Montana, 2019Avalanche and Heavy Snow in Montana, February 11 to 14, 2019
February 11 to 14, 2019 · NWS MSO · 4 events in 3 counties and zones
A plume of subtropical moisture overran an arctic air mass across northwest Montana leading to significant snowfall.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
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- Marine and coastal
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- 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.
A plume of subtropical moisture overran an arctic air mass across northwest Montana leading to significant snowfall.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 11, 2:32 PM MST, 8 hours 28 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 11, 2:32 PM MST, 8 hours 28 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
232 PM MST Mon Feb 11 2019
...PROLONGED SNOW WITH PERIODS OF MODERATE SNOW THROUGH THE MIDDLE
OF THE WEEK...
.DISCUSSION...The brief break in snow this afternoon will be
short-lived as a warm front quickly brings a return to snow
during this evening.
A period of overrunning (warm frontal boundary moving over a cold
air mass near the surface) will produce moderate to heavy snow
tonight into Wednesday across portions of north central Idaho and
northwest Montana. Snow will initially impact north central Idaho
and western Montana tonight before spreading across northwest
Montana by early Tuesday morning. Winter Storm Warnings have been
issued for parts of north-central Idaho and northwest Montana as
intense period of snowfall is expected as the warm frontal
boundary is lifted over the cold air stuck near the surface.
Snowfall rates on the order of one to two inches per hour will be
common along this warm frontal boundary as it lifts northward into
northwest Montana Tuesday morning. 6 to 10 inches of snowfall is
anticipated across these areas, with over a foot of snow in the
higher terrain near the Idaho/Montana border. Further south and
east, across west central Montana, snowfall will generally be the
1 to 4 inch range.
A surface low will track across central Oregon into northeast
Washington tonight and will act to increase a southerly pressure
gradient across north central Idaho. This will bring an increasing
trend to winds through the Camas Prairie in Idaho and southwest
Montana through Tuesday afternoon. The wind combined with
snowfall will make for a period of lowered visibility due to
blowing snow across the Camas Prairie, particularly near the
Grangeville area.
Warm and moist air will continue to stream across much of the
Northern Rockies Wednesday. The greatest impacts will be felt
across the I-90 corridor west of Missoula through Lookout Pass and
for Highway 2 from Columbia Falls through Marias Pass. Elsewhere
a band of light to moderate snowfall will track north to south
from northwest Montana through west-central Montana and north-
central Idaho Wednesday morning through the afternoon, with
additional snowfall expected. By Wednesday evening, snowfall
across Lookout, Lolo, and Marias Passes will need to be measured
with a yardstick!
There are still questions on the evolution of the weather pattern
for Thursday and Friday. The moisture and snow focus does still
look to transition southward but may only linger for a short
period of time during Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Another weather system is likely to arrive on Friday with higher
snow levels to start and periods of snow for the weekend.
&&
.AVIATION...Radar returns are starting to increase as a warm front
moves into the region. Snow will return during the evening with
widespread lowered ceilings, obscured terrain, and consistently
reduced visibility through the overnight and into Tuesday morning.
Moderate to heavy snow is expected in portions of north-central
Idaho and northwest Montana tonight through at least Tuesday
night. Winter Storm Warnings have been issued to account for the
heavy snow, where low elevations can expect 6 to 10 inches of snow
by Tuesday evening and around 20 inches in the mountains.
Southwesterly winds will increase in the terrain and in
Grangeville tonight.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...Winter Weather Advisory until 9 AM MST Tuesday
Missoula/Bitterroot Valleys.
Winter Storm Warning from 11 PM this evening to 5 PM MST
Wednesday Lower Clark Fork Region.
Winter Storm Warning from 2 AM to 1 PM MST Tuesday
Flathead/Mission Valleys.
Winter Storm Warning from 2 AM Tuesday to 5 PM MST Wednesday
West Glacier Region.
Winter Storm Warning from 11 PM this evening to 5 PM MST
Wednesday Kootenai/Cabinet Region.
Winter Weather Advisory until 9 AM MST Tuesday
Bitterroot/Sapphire Mountains.
Winter Storm Warning from 2 AM to 1 PM MST Tuesday
Potomac/Seeley Lake Region.
ID...Winter Storm Warning until 10 AM PST Tuesday Orofino/Grangeville
Region.
Winter Storm Warning until 4 PM PST Wednesday Northern
Clearwater Mountains...Southern Clearwater Mountains.
&&In the hours before
Local storm report, Feb 11, 7:55 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
755 PM MST MON FEB 11 2019
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0754 PM SNOW COLUMBIA FALLS 48.37N 114.18W
02/11/2019 M3.0 INCH FLATHEAD MT PUBLIC
3 INCHES FELL OVERNIGHT SUNDAY AND MONDAY
MORNING.
&&Heavy Snow, Lower Clark Fork Region
- When
- February 11, 11:00 PM MST to February 13, 5:00 PM MST
- Where
- Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
A prolonged period of heavy snowfall was observed from the evening of the 11th through the afternoon of the 13th. Lookout Pass Ski Resort reported 28 inches of snowfall in a 24 hour period on the morning of the 13th. 39 inches of snowfall was reported in Heron. School delays and closures also were in affect for the 13th.
Heavy Snow, Kootenai/Cabinet Region
- When
- February 12, 12:00 AM MST to February 13, 6:00 AM MST
- Where
- Kootenai/Cabinet Region forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 48.171, -114.863 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy snowfall with rates of 2 inches per hour were common. Two to three feet of snowfall was observed in Libby and Troy and school delays and closures were reported for February 13th.
Heavy Snow, West Glacier Region
- When
- February 12, 1:00 AM MST to February 13, 12:00 PM MST
- Where
- West Glacier Region forecast zone
- Reported by
- Trained Spotter
- Coordinates
- 47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy snow impacted travel over Marias Pass on Highway 2, with two feet of snowfall being reported. Isolated areas of blowing snow also led to significantly reduced visibility at times.
Avalanche, Lower Clark Fork Region
- When
- February 13, 4:39 PM MST to February 14, 7:00 AM MST
- Where
- Lower Clark Fork Region forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 47.286, -114.685 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy snowfall led to multiple avalanches on I-90 near Lookout Pass. Westbound lanes of I-90 were closed at St. Regis through the morning of the 14th as crews cleared several feet of snow off the roadway. A passenger vehicle was partially buried by the avalanche and the driver had to be rescued.
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
- Avalanche
- A mass of snow sliding down a mountainside that caused a death, an injury or damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Winter Weather in Indiana, February 11, 20193 deaths · 1 event
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, February 11 to 12, 20191 injured · $130,000 · EF1 · 4 events
- Winter Storm in Wisconsin, February 11 to 13, 20193 injured · $35,000 · 13 events
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Arkansas, February 11 to 12, 2019$45,000 · 11 events
- Heavy Snow in Idaho, February 11 to 13, 201926 events
- Flash Flooding and Flood in Arkansas, February 11 to 28, 201922 events
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Wisconsin, February 11 to 13, 201920 events
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, February 11 to 13, 201919 events
- Winter Storm in Iowa, February 11 to 12, 201919 events
- Ice Storm and Winter Weather in Illinois, February 11 to 12, 201918 events
- Winter Storm in Pennsylvania, February 11 to 12, 201918 events
- Winter Storm in Iowa, February 11 to 12, 201915 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: 805537, 805535, 805536, 805538.