S. The resulting tight surface gradient produced wind gusts in excess of 70 mph along the Rocky Mountain Front.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.
Short wave energy moved through an upper ridge that was positioned over the western U.S. The resulting tight surface gradient produced wind gusts in excess of 70 mph along the Rocky Mountain Front.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 26, 5:06 PM MST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 506 PM MST TUE JAN 26 2016 ...AVIATION SECTION UPDATED... .DISCUSSION... TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA WILL BE UNDERNEATH AN UPPER LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE TONIGHT BUT A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES WILL MOVE INTO THE RIDGE FROM THE WEST. THE FIRST OF THESE SHORTWAVES WILL CROSS THE ROCKIES TONIGHT. THE CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION WILL REMAIN LOW BUT WINDS ALOFT WILL STRENGTHEN. AT LOWER LEVELS, A TIGHT SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT LIES ALONG THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE ROCKIES AND BRISK WINDS WILL CONTINUE AND STRENGTHEN INTO THE NIGHT AS THE SHORTWAVE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. STRONGEST WINDS WILL BE OVER AND ALONG THE LEE SLOPES OF THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. THE RIDGE WILL REBUILD WEDNESDAY AS THE SHORTWAVE MOVES EAST. THE AIRMASS WILL BE DRY AND QUITE WARM WITH MAX TEMPERATURES RISING WELL OVER SEASONAL NORMALS. WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN AGAIN WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS ANOTHER SHORT WAVE APPROACHES THE ROCKIES. THIS WILL BEGIN A PERIOD OF STRONG SURFACE WINDS THAT WILL LAST THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. A HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THIS PERIOD HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. THE SHORTWAVE WILL ALSO CAUSE LIGHT SNOW OVER THE ROCKIES ALTHOUGH ONLY AREAS ALONG THE CONTDVD SHOULD BE AFFECTED THROUGH THURSDAY. ZELZER THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...MODELS REMAIN IN GOOD AGREEMENT BRINGING A STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET AND ABUNDANT PACIFIC MOISTURE INTO THE REGION THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. BY SATURDAY MORNING THE UPPER LEVEL JET WILL SAG SOUTHWARD BRINGING AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER INTO CALIFORNIA AND LEAVING MONTANA IN A BROAD UPPER LEVEL TROUGH INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL LIKELY KEEP THE STORM TRACK FURTHER SOUTH AS WELL. THE MODELS HAVE SHOWN A CONTINUED SLIGHT SHIFT SOUTH WITH THE STORM TRACK AND BECAUSE OF THIS, OPTED TO LOWER POPS SLIGHTLY EARLY NEXT WEEK, ESPECIALLY ALONG THE HI-LINE WHERE DRIER AIR IS MORE LIKELY TO LIMIT PRECIP. TEMP-WISE, THE GFS IS JUST A BIT SLOWER WITH BRINGING IN LOWER THICKNESS VALUES/COOLER TEMPS EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH THE TROUGH, BUT OVERALL BETTER AGREEMENT REGARDING TEMPS. MPJ/MARTIN && .AVIATION... UPDATED 0006Z. VFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH 00Z/THU. A FAST-MOVING SHORTWAVE OVER BRITISH COLUMBIA WILL DROP SE ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA TONIGHT. A FEW SHOWERS WERE NOTED IN THE VICINITY OF KCTB AT THIS TIME AND A FEW MORE SHOWERS MAY BRIEFLY DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AS THE SHORTWAVE MOVES THROUGH. WITH DRY AIR AT LOW LEVELS, SHOWERS SHOULD REMAIN ISOLATED AND CONFIDENCE WAS TOO LOW TO INCLUDE ANY PREVAILING GROUPS FOR PRECIP. OTHERWISE...GUSTY WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN ISSUE THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD, ESPECIALLY ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND EASTWARD ACROSS NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANA. RIGHT ALONG THE FRONT, GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 45KT ARE LIKELY AT TIMES, ESPECIALLY THIS EVENING AND AGAIN WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. MARTIN && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 37 49 39 55 / 10 10 10 10 CTB 33 44 39 52 / 0 0 10 10 HLN 28 43 30 46 / 0 20 10 10 BZN 21 38 22 40 / 0 20 10 10 WEY 13 30 16 31 / 10 10 10 10 DLN 23 39 25 43 / 0 20 10 10 HVR 28 43 31 49 / 0 10 0 10 LWT 33 45 33 51 / 0 10 0 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WATCH FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE THURSDAY NIGHT FOR MTZ009. && WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A wind gust to 78 mph was reported at East Glacier Park 1ENE (the Two Medicine Bridge DOT site).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2016
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 613508.