Extreme Cold in Montana, February 9 to 10, 2018

Name: Extreme Cold in Montana, February 9 to 10, 2018
Start: 2018-02-09T18:35
End: 2018-02-10T11:55
Location: Montana

February 9 to 10, 2018 · NWS GGW · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Arctic air behind a cold front pushed into eastern Montana, bringing very cold temperatures on the morning of the 10th. Although winds were relatively light, they were strong enough in combination with the bitter cold temperatures to create extreme wind chills across much of the area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 GGW wrote it up.

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 Feb 9, 2:03 PM MST, 4 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 9, 2:03 PM MST, 4 hours 32 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central and Se Phillips

When: February 9, 6:35 PM MST to February 10, 11:55 AM MST
Where: Central and Se Phillips forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Observations at the Malta Airport AWOS site showed wind chill values less than 40 below zero from 6:35 PM the evening of the 9th through 11:55 AM the morning of the 10th. The lowest wind chill value was 58 below zero, occurring from 5:15 AM through 8:15 AM the morning of the 10th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Central and Southern Valley

When: February 9, 8:53 PM MST
Where: Central and Southern Valley forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 48.365, -106.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures in the 20s below zero and fairly light winds combined to produce bitterly cold wind chills across the area. A 40 below zero wind chill value was recorded by the Glasgow airport ASOS at 8:53 PM on the evening of the 9th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Richland

When: February 9, 9:15 PM MST
Where: Richland forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 47.788, -104.561 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A wind chill value of 40 below zero was recorded at the Sioux Pass Montana Department of Transportation site.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Western Roosevelt

When: February 9, 10:13 PM MST to February 10, 4:18 AM MST
Where: Western Roosevelt forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 48.295, -105.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind chills at the Poplar AWOS dropped under 40 below at approximately 10:15 PM on the 9th, and stayed near or below that point until approximately 6:30 on the morning of the 10th. The McDonalds Montana Department of Transportation site recorded wind chills under 40 below from approximately midnight on the morning of the 10th to 4:30 on the morning of the 10th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Garfield

When: February 9, 11:48 PM MST to February 10, 4:00 AM MST
Where: Garfield forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures across Garfield County dropped into the 20s and 30s below zero on the night of the 9th and the early morning of the 10th. Even with winds ranging from calm to 10 miles per hour, wind chills periodically dropped to 40 below zero or less between just before midnight on the 9th and approximately 4:00 on the morning of the 10th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, Dawson

When: February 10, 3:56 AM MST to 7:56 AM MST
Where: Dawson forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 47.266, -104.899 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Temperatures in the teens and 20s below and relatively light winds combined to produce bitterly cold wind chill values at Glendive early in the morning of the 10th.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, McCone

When: February 10, 6:38 AM MST
Where: McCone forecast zone
Reported by: Department of Highways
Coordinates: 47.645, -105.795 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The Montana Department of Transportation site recorded a wind chill value of 41 below zero at 6:38 AM on the 10th.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill: Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

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: 741696, 740830, 740854, 740817, 740828, 740840, 741709.