Yet another wind event impacted western Montana and brought scattered power outages and wind gusts between 45 and 60 mph across the region.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 MSO wrote it up.
Yet another wind event impacted western Montana and brought scattered power outages and wind gusts between 45 and 60 mph across the region.
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 Mar 4, 3:13 AM MST, 2 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
313 AM MST Wed Mar 4 2020
.DISCUSSION...
Overall, little has changed to the forecast since yesterday,
except for a slight trend in higher mountain-top winds. There is
still a strong signature for the shortwave trough, cold front, and
upper level jet to combine and create a windy day, intermixed
with squalls and showers. Winds in western Montana are expected to
be 25-35 mph with gusts 45-55 mph, and isolated higher gusts are
possible. Banded showers are expected to impact much of the I-90
corridor, Highway 12, 200, and Highway 93 from Evaro Hill south
through the Bitterroot Valley. There should also be banded
showers behind the front in northwest Montana. Periods of low
visibility and isolated whiteout conditions are possible under
heavier showers and bands, along with the potential for strong
wind gusts. Lookout, Lolo, and Marias passes will be impacted by
snow, wind, and low visibility, especially during the morning
hours.
Showers will decrease in coverage during this afternoon and gusty
winds will show signs of decreasing. Winds look to quickly
decrease during this evening and only a few lingering showers
will remain.
High pressure will bring very mild temperatures, 7 to 10 degrees
above normal on Thursday.
Southwesterly flow is expected to develop on Friday. Cloud cover
and precipitation will keep northwest Montana from warming much,
but south of I-90 and Highway 12 could be quite warm with upper
50s and 60s in the valleys.
There hasn’t been much change for the overall wet and cool
weekend forecast. Snow chances return for Sunday and there is
potential for some of the valleys of northwest Montana to have at
least some snow, but most of the accumulations expected over
mountain passes. Marias Pass and the Glacier Region remain an area
of focus for snow with the potential for an arctic front to stall
near the Divide.
Occasional showers are possible early next week with a general
warming trend.
&&
.AVIATION...A tightening southwesterly pressure gradient is
already causing gusty winds this morning, which are forecast to
increase with winds 20-30 knots and gusts to 50 knots expected.
Wind shear is also a concern throughout the region, along with
strong mountain-top winds. Ceilings will lower through the
morning and obscure terrain in clouds and snow. Periods of low
visibility are also expected in valley locations under heavier
bands and showers. A few snow squalls are also possible with
periods of whiteout conditions possible. High resolution radar
forecasts show most of the bands to occur during the morning, with
and just behind the cold front. Gusty winds will linger through
the afternoon, but are expected to decrease during the evening as
the gradient relaxes. A few showers may linger into the evening,
but the overnight will have limited cloud cover and dry
conditions.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...Wind Advisory until 5 PM MST this afternoon Butte/Blackfoot
Region.
Winter Weather Advisory until 2 PM MST this afternoon
Bitterroot/Sapphire Mountains.
High Wind Watch until 2 PM MST this afternoon
Missoula/Bitterroot Valleys.
Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST this morning Lower Clark
Fork Region.
Wind Advisory until 2 PM MST this afternoon Flathead/Mission
Valleys...Kootenai/Cabinet Region.
Winter Weather Advisory until 11 AM MST this morning West
Glacier Region.
Wind Advisory until 5 PM MST this afternoon Potomac/Seeley Lake
Region.
ID...Winter Weather Advisory until 1 PM PST this afternoon Southern
Clearwater Mountains.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 strong wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
At least 750 people lost power in the Essex, West Glacier and Hungry Horse areas, as a result of tree debris falling onto power lines.
There was a MDT road report of a tree down at 0609MST on Highway 56, one mile north of the junction with Highway 200. The tree was on a guardrail, blocking the northbound lane.
While most of the wind gusts were in the middle to upper 40s mph, a sensor located in higher terrain northeast of Hot Springs reported a gust to 61 mph around 0645MST. There were a 100 people without power in the Bigfork and Wood's Bay areas.
Most of the wind gusts were in the 40s during this event. There were a few instances of winds gusting over 50 mph along the Continental Divide, including: 61 mph north of Avon around 1154MST, 58 mph MacDonald Pass at 0949MST, 52 mph Montana Tech in Butte at 1430MST and 51 mph at the Bert Mooney Airport south of Butte at 1451MST. No damages were reported.
A private sensor, located 5 miles southeast of Stevensville, recorded the strong wind gust at 1549MST. No damages were reported in Ravalli County.
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, March 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: 878770, 878802, 878788, 878800, 878798.