An unusually strong low pressure system from the Canadian Rockies and its associated cold front, produced convective snow showers and wind gusts up to 60 mph.
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The episode as NWS GGW wrote it up.
An unusually strong low pressure system from the Canadian Rockies and its associated cold front, produced convective snow showers and wind gusts up to 60 mph.
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 14, 10:20 AM MST, 4 hours 6 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Glasgow MT 1020 AM MST Fri Feb 14 2020 .DISCUSSION... Sent an update this morning try and get a better handle on the light precipitation showing up on radar this morning. Could be mostly virga, but thought I should increase some PoPs for places where the best model guidance places the most precip. Could see some light snow accumulations today - up to an inch, especially across our northern border with Saskatchewan as another cold front heads this way. ---BMickelson Previous discussion: Radar and observations show light isolated to widely scattered showers early this morning over the western zones. These showers will spill across the CWA today, but little if any measurable precipitation is expected for most places. Consensus guidance indicates that places that do see measurable precipitation are most likely to occur along the Canadian border, but snow amounts should remain under an inch. As a frontal system makes a move through the region, west winds will be on the increase this afternoon and evening with colder temperatures for Saturday. Look for temperature recoveries on Sunday with many places reaching the 30s and 40s for highs along and south of Highway 2. The next strong cold front will rapidly approach, delivering scattered rain and snow showers to Northeast Montana during the afternoon and evening especially. Colder and drier conditions are expected for the middle of next week, with coldest readings anticipated Wednesday morning. This is when much of the CWA may see lows around or below zero. Consensus guidance was followed for the second half of next week, featuring gradually rising temperatures. Afternoon highs should be several degrees above average Thursday and Friday along with mainly dry weather conditions with rising 500mb heights evident in the ensembles across the region during that time. Maliawco && .AVIATION... Synopsis: Even with warming temperatures today, due to a short- wave ridge of high pressure from the southwest, another cold front and low pressure short-wave trough is headed this way from the Canadian Rockies. The development of precipitation ahead of this cold front will bring some scattered rain and snow showers to the region today through tonight and may briefly impact a few TAF sites. Flight Categories: Mainly VFR, but if a decent shower comes near a TAF site, MVFR would be possible in ceilings down to 1000 ft and visibility to 3 or 4 SM. Winds: From the west and northwest at 15 to 20 kts, then light and variable tonight through Saturday morning. ---BMickelson && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && weather.gov/glasgow
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
At the Malta South US-191 DOT site (MTMAL), sustained winds of 40 mph or greater were brief and isolated, but peak wind gusts of 60 mph were recorded from 2:26 PM to 2:30 PM.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, February 2020
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: 875485.