Heavy Snow in Montana, February 3 to 4, 2018

Name: Heavy Snow in Montana, February 3 to 4, 2018
Start: 2018-02-03T11:00
End: 2018-02-04T00:00
Location: Montana

February 3 to 4, 2018 · NWS TFX · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

This longer-duration winter event was really made up of 3 separate systems. The first wave brought snow and mixed precipitation to Central Montana on Friday, February 2.

The toll

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.

This longer-duration winter event was really made up of 3 separate systems. The first wave brought snow and mixed precipitation to Central Montana on Friday, February 2. After a lull, another round of mostly snow impacted Central Montana on Saturday, February 3. The third, and final, wave brought snow and mixed precipitation to Central and Southwest Montana Sunday-Monday, February 4-5.

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 3, 10:48 AM MST, 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 3, 10:48 AM MST, 12 minutes before

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Event by event

2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Blaine

When: February 3, 11:00 AM MST
Where: Blaine forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Storm spotter measured a 6 inch snow depth with blowing and drifting snow. Visibility under a quarter mile with sideroads barely passable.

Heavy Snow, Hill

When: February 4, 12:00 AM MST
Where: Hill forecast zone
Reported by: Unknown

Reported 8.6 inches of snow in the Havre area in 24 hours.

What these are

Heavy Snow: Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2018 Every state in 2018 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, February 2018

Sources

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 735266, 735267.