Upslope conditions caused from a strong circulation center over northeast Montana resulted in heavy snow in and around Glacier National Park. Snow amounts in excess of 8 inches were reported.
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.
Upslope conditions caused from a strong circulation center over northeast Montana resulted in heavy snow in and around Glacier National Park. Snow amounts in excess of 8 inches were reported.
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 Mar 28, 4:22 AM MST, 4 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 522 AM MDT MON MAR 28 2016 AVIATION SECTION UPDATED .DISCUSSION... TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...LARGE SCALE MID-UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUES TO PUSH EAST INTO THE REGION THIS MORNING WITH ONE CIRCULATION CENTER LOCATED OVER NW MT WHILE ANOTHER IS DIVING SE INTO NORTHERN CA. THE INITIAL SURFACE TROUGH/FRONTAL BOUNDARY AHEAD OF THE MID/UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED AREA OF SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE TO GRADUALLY PUSH EAST ACROSS NORTH-CENTRAL MT AND WEAKEN THIS MORNING WITH SOME DRIER AIR MOVING IN FROM THE WEST INTO CENTRAL AND SW MT THIS AFTERNOON. THE CIRCULATION CENTER OVER NW MT THIS MORNING GRADUALLY WEAKENS AND SAGS SOUTH TODAY AND TONIGHT ALLOWING A PLUME OF MOISTURE WRAPPING AROUND TO ITS NORTH TO PUSH SOUTH FROM ALBERTA INTO THE GLACIER PARK VICINITY LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. THIS CREATES A FAIRLY LOCALIZED BUT SIGNIFICANT UPSLOPE PRECIPITATION SETUP FOR PORTIONS OF GLACIER COUNTY WITH HEAVIEST SNOWFALL AMOUNTS THROUGH TONIGHT FOCUSED OVER AREAS NEAR AND IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT TO GLACIER NATIONAL PARK...PARTICULARLY NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER. MEANWHILE...THE UPPER LEVEL ENERGY NOW DIVING INTO NORTHERN CA WILL CARVE OUT A STRONGER/LARGER UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE GREAT BASIN LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT...WHICH DRIFTS EAST ACROSS UT AND WY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. AS THIS OCCURS FLOW ALOFT WILL BECOME NORTHEAST AND INCREASINGLY MOIST ACROSS MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA LATE TONIGHT THOUGH TUESDAY WITH PRECIPITATION SPREADING NORTH INTO SW AND EVENTUALLY CENTRAL MT. POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TUES/TUES NIGHT ACROSS THE MTNS OF SW MT AS WELL AS OVER AND ADJACENT TO THE LITTLE BELT AND BIG SNOWY RANGES OF CENTRAL MT THOUGH THERE IS STILL FAIRLY LARGE SPREAD AMONG MODELS IN MAXIMUM QPF AMOUNTS IN THESE AREAS. HOENISCH WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY...A LOW PRESSURE TROF WILL BE EAST OF THE ZONES WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING ALOFT. HOWEVER, A SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND KEEP A THREAT OF PRECIPITATION IN THE AREA THROUGH THURSDAY. ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REQUIRE HIGHLIGHTS. THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL ALSO BRING COOLER TEMPERATURES TO THE REGION...COLDEST TEMPS ACROSS THE NORTHEAST ZONES WHILE DILLON WILL REMAIN NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS. A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE OVER THE WEST COAST WILL BECOME THE DOMINANT FEATURE BY THURSDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL MOVE OVER THE ROCKIES BY SATURDAY. TO THE WEST, A SHORTWAVE WILL BE MOVING OVER THE WEST COAST, FLATTENING THE RIDGE SATURDAY NIGHT, AND CROSSING THE ROCKIES SUNDAY. THIS QUICK MOVING FEATURE WILL BRING PRECIPITATION BUT AMOUNTS WILL BE LOW...AND WITH THE WARM TEMPERATURES, SNOW SHOULD BE A FACTOR ONLY AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. THE MODELS REMAIN VERY SIMILAR UNTIL SHOWING SOME DIFFERENCES BY MONDAY. THE GFS CLOSES OFF A LOW OVER THE WEST COAST WHILE THE ECMWF KEEPS THIS AS AN OPEN WAVE...AND MOVES IT QUICKER ACROSS THE WESTERN US. THE GEM IS EVEN FASTER THAN THE ECMWF. AT THIS POINT IN THE FORECAST WILL SIMPLY BLEND THE MODELS. ZELZER && .AVIATION...UPDATED 1120Z. A LOW PRESSURE TROF IS OVER MUCH OF THE WESTERN US. THIS WILL KEEP THE AIRMASS UNSETTLED WITH PERIODS OF LIGHT PRECIPITATION ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING COOL, MOIST AIR FROM THE NORTH WITH MVFR/IFR CIGS OVER THE CANADIAN BORDER BY MID-AFTERNOON. VFR CONDITIONS WILL GENERALLY PREVAIL SOUTH OF KCTB THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON BUT AREAS OF MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS DUE TO FOG, SNOW, AND CIGS WILL DEVELOP OVERNIGHT. MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION IS EXPECTED TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 49 29 45 25 / 20 40 60 40 CTB 45 29 43 26 / 50 70 50 10 HLN 48 30 45 28 / 20 40 60 50 BZN 45 28 45 26 / 30 40 70 70 WEY 35 22 35 20 / 80 70 70 50 DLN 42 28 41 26 / 20 50 70 50 HVR 51 29 50 25 / 70 20 30 10 LWT 44 28 41 25 / 60 30 80 80 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... WINTER STORM WARNING FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 PM MDT TUESDAY FOR MTZ009-010. && WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Ten inches of snow fell at Babb 12WSW (the Many Glacier SNOTEL site). Six to fourteen inches of snow fell in the Babb and Port of Piegan areas. Roads were plowed and kept open with no accidents reported. Glacier National Park reported icy roads in the St Mary area but no incidents.
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, March 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: 616900.