Montana, 2018Drought in Montana, April 1 to 30, 2018
April 1 to 30, 2018 · NWS GGW · 2 events in 2 counties and zones
The month of April began with Severe (D2) drought conditions still being experienced by Sheridan and eastern Daniels counties. By the end of the month, enough precipitation had fallen over the area to relieve this somewhat, with no areas remaining in the Severe drought category by the end of April.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 month of April began with Severe (D2) drought conditions still being experienced by Sheridan and eastern Daniels counties. By the end of the month, enough precipitation had fallen over the area to relieve this somewhat, with no areas remaining in the Severe drought category by the end of April. Sheridan, Daniels, and Roosevelt counties were still experiencing Moderate (D1) drought conditions, however.
What forecasters said that day
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 Mar 31, 6:08 PM MST, 5 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 6:08 PM MST, 5 hours 52 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Glasgow MT
708 PM MDT Sat Mar 31 2018
.DISCUSSION...
Evening Update (7pm MDT): Only tweaks to the forecast for the
coming 24 hour period are to MaxT/MinT and winds to account for
the building high pressure over the region. Left the next storm
system alone for now as the narrative and model solutions are
doing a good job of resolving it, and thus is currently reflected
well enough in the grids to not require edits for the evening
package. Bigelbach
PREVIOUS DISCUSSION: The cold front that pushed through Northeast
Montana remains well to the southwest. With northwest flow,
surface and aloft, most temperatures today only got into the teens
and 20s, around 25-30 degrees below normal. With an upper ridge
off to the west, the northwest flow aloft will continue tonight.
An Arctic surface high will maintain mostly clear skies tonight
for another round of single digit lows, some below zero. The
surface high will cause winds to become light and variable, so
dangerous wind chills are not expected.
Sunday, a developing storm system near Vancouver Island will send
additional moisture into Montana. By evening, snow is expected
that will spread over Northeast Montana through Monday evening.
The storm will cover all of central and parts of eastern Montana.
Snow total amount range from zero to 8 inches for our area. Mainly
used FB for this storm, which produced headline snow. As a result,
in coordination with surrounding offices, issued a winter storm
watch.
Tuesday and Wednesday, the upper ridge in the west reestablishes
itself, although the stationary front keeps our region on the cold
side.
Thursday, another Arctic low descending into Manitoba and more
Pacific moisture will conspire to generate another winter storm
for Thursday and Friday. Models diverge quite a bit at this point.
Most have this system loses strength as it runs into the Rockies,
leaving northeast Montana with periods of precipitation. A lot
can change by then, so will see how this progresses over the next
few days.
Templer
&&
.AVIATION...
Expected Flight Category: VFR
Synopsis: A small and short-lived high pressure system builds over
the region tonight. This will lead to VFR conditions across the
region. Slight chances for some visibility reduction due to
freezing fog exist mainly at GGW tomorrow morning, but not likely.
Another approaching winter-like storm system moves its way in
tomorrow evening and could hinder operations through Monday.
Wind: Northwest winds at 10-15 kts will become light and variable
overnight and through much of the morning. After around midday,
winds will shift to the southeast at 7-12 kts across the sites.
Bigelbach
&&
.GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Winter Storm Watch from Sunday evening through Monday evening
for Central and Southeast Phillips...Central and Southern
Valley...Dawson...Eastern Roosevelt...Garfield...McCone...
Northern Phillips...Northern Valley...Petroleum...Prairie...
Richland...Southwest Phillips...Western Roosevelt...Wibaux.
&&
weather.gov/glasgow
Drought, Daniels
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM MST to April 30, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Daniels forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 48.784, -105.549 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Severe (D2) drought conditions were experienced across eastern Daniels County throughout the month of April. The drought was relieved by one to three inches of liquid water equivalent in the area, which was more than twice the normal amount of precipitation for April. Conditions were shown to have improved by the Drought Monitor on May 1st.
Drought, Sheridan
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM MST to April 30, 11:59 PM MST
- Where
- Sheridan forecast zone
- Reported by
- Drought Monitor
- Coordinates
- 48.721, -104.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Severe (D2) drought conditions were experienced across much of Sheridan County throughout the month of April. The drought was relieved by half an inch to one and a half inches of liquid water equivalent in the area, which was up to 150 percent of the normal amount of precipitation for April. Conditions were shown to have improved by the Drought Monitor to Moderate (D1) drought conditions April 17th for the eastern two thirds of the county, and on May 1st for the western third of the county.
- Drought
- A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in Nebraska, April 1, 20181 death · 1 injured · 15 events
- High Wind in Vermont, April 1, 2018$275,000 · 63 kt wind · 4 events
- Flood in Iowa, April 1 to 9, 2018$200,000 · 1 event
- Drought in New Mexico, April 1 to 30, 201839 events
- Flooding in Indiana, April 1 to 18, 2018$40,000 · 2 events
- Flooding in Indiana, April 1 to 16, 2018$35,000 · 2 events
- Drought in Oklahoma, April 1 to 30, 201826 events
- Flooding in Illinois, April 1 to 18, 2018$30,000 · 2 events
- Drought in Texas, April 1 to 30, 201824 events
- Winter Weather in Ohio, April 1 to 2, 201823 events
- Flooding in Illinois, April 1 to 30, 2018$22,000 · 6 events
- Drought in Kansas, April 1 to 30, 201821 events
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: 747397, 747402.