Extreme Cold in Montana, March 2 to 3, 2019

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and wind speeds of 10 to 40 mph, wind chill values in the -40s and -50s occurred at different times from the Lindsay Divide to Glendive, generally from the afternoon on the 2nd through most of the morning on the 3rd. The coldest wind chill reading of -53 was recorded a few times at the Lindsay Divide MT-200 DOT site from 6:41 to 6:51 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and wind speeds of 14 to 33 mph, wind chill values from -40 to -50 persisted across portions of Richland County from the evening on the 2nd through most of the morning on the 3rd. The coldest wind chill reading of -51 was recorded multiple times at the Sioux Pass MT-16 DOT site from 5:38 to 5:53 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and wind speeds of 10 to 37 mph, wind chill values from -40 to -50 spread across most of western Roosevelt County from the evening on the 2nd through most of the morning on the 3rd. The coldest wind chill reading of -50 was recorded both at the Poplar airport mesonet site at 5:30 AM, and at the Wolf Point airport ASOS site at 6:53 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and wind speeds of 13 to 32 mph, wind chill values in the -40s persisted across portions of Daniels County from the evening on the 2nd through mid-morning on the 3rd. The coldest wind chill reading of -46 was recorded multiple times from 9:47 PM to 5:47 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and wind speeds of 12 to 28 mph, wind chill values from -40 to -50 spread across portions of McCone County from the evening on the 2nd through mid morning on the 3rd. The coldest wind chill reading of -50 was recorded at the Cow Creek MT-13 DOT site from 3:52 to 4:23 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and wind speeds of 15 to 33 mph, wind chill values in the -40s persisted from the evening on the 2nd through mid morning on the 3rd from Plentywood through the Comertown area. The coldest wind chill reading of -46 was recorded multiple times from 9:30 PM to 7:23 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and wind speeds of 9 to 35 mph, wind chill values in the -40s and -50s occurred intermittently from the evening on the 2nd through most of the morning on the 3rd at the Beaver Hill I-94 DOT site. The coldest wind chill reading of -51 was recorded at 5:08 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and winds speeds of 9 to 37 mph, wind chill values in the -40s occurred at different times at multiple locations across central and southern Valley County. The timing was generally from the evening on the 2nd through the early morning on the 3rd. The coldest wind chill reading of -47 was recorded at 4:53 AM at the Glasgow airport ASOS site.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and wind speeds of 9 to 28 mph, wind chill values from -40 to -50 persisted in eastern Roosevelt County from the evening on the 2nd through most of the morning on the 3rd. The coldest wind chill reading of -50 was recorded multiple times at the US-2 @Stateline DOT site from 4:39 to 5:39 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and wind speeds of 11 to 22 mph, wind chill values in the -40s and -50s persisted from the evening on the 2nd through mid morning on the 3rd at the Big Sheep Mountain RAWS site. The coldest wind chill reading of -52 was recorded at 5:08 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and winds speeds of 9 to 30 mph, wind chill values in the -40s and -50s occurred through the night on the 2nd and through most of the morning on the 3rd at the Malta airport AWOS site. The coldest wind chill reading of -54 was recorded at 6:55 AM.

With no observation sites available in northern Phillips County, the Val Marie Southeast Saskatchewan ASOS site was used as a proxy. Temperatures in the -10s and -20s combined with wind speeds up to 17 mph to create wind chills values in the -40s. The coldest wind chill reading of -45 was recorded at 2:00 AM MST on the 3rd.

With temperatures in the -10s and winds speeds of 10 to 28 mph, wind chill values in the -40s persisted through the night of the 2nd and into the early morning of the 3rd at the Bluff Creek RAWS site. The coldest wind chill reading of -47 was recorded at 12:44 AM.

With temperatures in the -10s and -20s and wind speeds of 9 to 16 mph, wind chill values in the -40s and -50s spread across portions of Garfield County from early morning through mid morning on the 3rd. The coldest wind chill reading of -55 was recorded at the Jordan airport ASOS site at 2:48 AM.