A sharp surface trough in the lee of the Rockies and strong westerly flow aloft generated strong southwesterly to westerly downslope winds along the Rocky Mountain Front and adjacent plains. Several instances of high wind gusts occurred on November 13th and 14th.
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.
A sharp surface trough in the lee of the Rockies and strong westerly flow aloft generated strong southwesterly to westerly downslope winds along the Rocky Mountain Front and adjacent plains. Several instances of high wind gusts occurred on November 13th and 14th.
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 Nov 13, 2:40 PM MST, 8 hours 44 minutes earlier.
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</html>6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
MT DOT station (2-miles SE of Browning) recorded peak gust of 60-mph.
Mesonet station (20-miles N of Rudyard) recorded peak gust of 59-mph.
Public reported peak gust of 62-mph 2-miles E of Black Eagle.
Cut Bank Airport ASOS (3-miles SW of Cut Bank) recorded peak gust of 66-mph.
MT DOT station (1-mile ENE of East Glacier Park) recorded 67-mph peak gust.
MT DOT station in Monarch Canyon (3-miles NNE of Monarch) recorded peak gust of 59-mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2018Every state in 2018This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, November 2018
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: 787790, 787794, 787793, 787792, 787791, 787795.