Montana, 2019Flooding in Montana, April 1 to 5, 2019
April 1 to 5, 2019 · NWS GGW · 4 events in 2 counties and zones
Continued melting of the remaining snowpack prolonged flooding concerns through the Milk River and Poplar River basins.
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Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 4
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.
Continued melting of the remaining snowpack prolonged flooding concerns through the Milk River and Poplar River basins.
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, 7:45 PM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 7:45 PM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Glasgow MT
845 PM MDT Sun Mar 31 2019
.DISCUSSION...
Evening Update...
Made some adjustments to the POP regime to be more in line with
current radar trends and latest guidance. Increased the "likely"
area to match up where we had accumulating snow in the southern
zones.
Temperatures seemed to be OK for the most part: couldn't argue
much with what's there. It should be a mild start to April.
Avery
Previous Discussion...
A disturbance this afternoon is seen in the form of
isolated/scattered showers that are currently crossing the divide
of the northern Rockies this afternoon. This disturbance will be
caught in a NW flow and push these across the SW zones tonight as
a mixture of rain and snow. It could drop an inch of snow over
Garfield county late tonight, but ground temperatures above
freezing probably won't keep it around long (gone by noon Monday,
only likely affecting the rush hour traffic around the Jordan
area Monday morning).
Upper pattern early in the week then has a strong upper closed low
over central/eastern Canada with a closed low splitting up as it
moves onto the West coast. This will allow cooler air to stay in
place through midweek.
Then a zonal flow sets up mid-week as the Canadian upper low spins
out and drifts east. Surface low pressure developing lee of the
Canadian Rockies drifts east and keeps Arctic air from reach us.
In face it pumps up warmer/downsloped air in here for later in the
week, where we should surpass normal levels. Temps are expected to
hold there through the weekend as an upper trough develops off the
Pacific NW coast. TFJ
&&
.AVIATION...
FLIGHT CONDITION: VFR, but a brief MVFR condition could occur
later tonight/Monday morning.
WINDS: Light and variable tonight. Becoming northwest by Monday
afternoon.
DISCUSSION: A few rain and/or snow showers are possible at or near
the TAF sites tonight and into Monday morning. Changes in
precipitation may prompt the necessity for TAF amendments tonight
into Monday morning.
Avery
&&
.GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.
&&
weather.gov/glasgow
Flood, Roosevelt
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM MST to April 2, 10:14 AM MST
- Where
- Roosevelt County, 2.33 mi N of Poplar Arpt to 2.02 mi NNW of Poplar Arpt
- Cause
- Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
- Reported by
- River/Stream Gage
- Coordinates
- 48.154, -105.185
Continuing the flooding from the end of March, recent melting of the larger snowpack allowed the Poplar river gauge reading (PLRM8) along the Poplar River to remain above the flood stage of 13.0 feet for a few more days into April. The river dropped back down below flood stage at 10:14 PM MST on the 2nd.
Flood, Valley
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM MST to April 3, 5:52 AM MST
- Where
- Valley County, 1.99 mi NW of Tampico to 2.59 mi S of Tampico
- Cause
- Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
- Reported by
- River/Stream Gage
- Coordinates
- 48.318, -106.853
Continuing the flooding from the end of March, recent melting of the larger snowpack allowed the Tampico river gauge reading (TMPM8) along the Milk River to remain above the flood stage of 23.0 into the first week of April. The river dropped back down below flood stage at 5:52 AM MST on the 3rd.
Flood, Valley
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM MST to April 5, 12:36 PM MST
- Where
- Valley County, 2.13 mi SSW of Glasgow to 0.51 mi S of Glasgow
- Cause
- Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
- Reported by
- River/Stream Gage
- Coordinates
- 48.172, -106.649
Continuing the flooding from the end of March, recent melting of the larger snowpack allowed the Glasgow river gauge reading (GLWM8) along the Milk River to remain above the flood stage of 25.0 into the first week of April. The river dropped back down below flood stage at 12:36 PM MST on the 5th.
Flood, Valley
- When
- April 1, 12:00 AM MST to April 5, 6:24 AM MST
- Where
- Valley County, 1.43 mi W of Nashua to 0.02 mi WSW of Nashua
- Cause
- Heavy Rain / Snow Melt
- Reported by
- River/Stream Gage
- Coordinates
- 48.133, -106.381
Continuing the flooding from the end of March, recent melting of the larger snowpack allowed the Nashua river gauge reading (NSHM8) along the Milk River to remain above the flood stage of 20.0 into the first week of April. The river dropped back down below flood stage at 6:24 AM MST on the 5th.
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Flooding in Iowa, April 1 to 30, 2019$100 million · 2 events
- Flooding in South Dakota, April 1 to 30, 20191 death · 10 events
- Flooding in Illinois, April 1 to 30, 20191 death · 7 events
- Flood in South Dakota, April 1 to 23, 2019$20 million · 1 event
- Flooding in South Dakota, April 1 to 30, 2019$5.8 million · 26 events
- Flooding in Minnesota, April 1 to 30, 2019$1.1 million · 7 events
- Flooding in Minnesota, April 1 to 22, 2019$150,000 · 3 events
- Flash Flooding and Avalanche in California, April 1 to 5, 2019$61,000 · 10 events
- Flooding in Illinois, April 1 to 30, 2019$50,000 · 2 events
- Flooding in Missouri, April 1 to 30, 2019$31,000 · 2 events
- Frost and Freeze in Kentucky, April 1, 201922 events
- Flooding in South Dakota, April 1 to 30, 201919 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: 815487, 815488, 815492, 815494.