An arctic air mass from the north brought the coldest temperatures of the season to northeast Montana and combined with breezy and gusty winds to create wind chill values colder than 40 below zero to many locations.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 GGW wrote it up.
An arctic air mass from the north brought the coldest temperatures of the season to northeast Montana and combined with breezy and gusty winds to create wind chill values colder than 40 below zero to many locations.
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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 10, 8:36 PM MST, 5 hours 33 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.
Steady wind chills of at least -40 began during the overnight/early morning hours at the Navajo MT-5 DOT site and persisted through the mid-evening hours at the Comertown Turn-Off MT-5 DOT site.
Wind chills of at least -40 were most prevalent further north of US-Highway 2 and recorded at the McDonalds MT-13 DOT site from the early morning through late morning hours.
Wind chills of at least -40 were recorded through the early morning hours at the Sioux Pass MT-16 DOT site.
Winds chills of at least -40 were recorded through the early morning hours at the Navajo MT-5 DOT site.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2017
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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 668642, 668644, 668645, 668643.