With only a few recent light rain events over the last several weeks, worsening drought conditions from eastern Montana expanded westward toward Central Montana, impacting Garfield and Petroleum Counties.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 GGW wrote it up.
With only a few recent light rain events over the last several weeks, worsening drought conditions from eastern Montana expanded westward toward Central Montana, impacting Garfield and Petroleum Counties.
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 Apr 19, 1:53 PM MST, 10 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Glasgow MT 253 PM MDT Mon Apr 19 2021 .DISCUSSION... Thanks to a slowly-departing lobe of the low pressure system from Hudson Bay, widespread intermittent hit- or- miss snow/rain showers are prevalent across the entire CWA today. That is expected to continue through tonight, then slowly diminish away through the day on Tuesday. Tuesday night through Thursday morning, High moderate pressure from the west will keep precipitation away and allow temperatures to climb back up above normal. Thursday and beyond, a series of disturbances along the northern stream flow pattern will keep unsettled weather through our region off-and-on through the weekend and into the beginning of next week. && .AVIATION... FLIGHT CAT: VFR - MVFR DISCUSSION: Expect intermittent periods of hit-or-miss, scattered rain and snow showers through the TAF cycle with flow generally from north to south. WIND: 10-15 kts from the northwest and north by this afternoon, diminishing to 5 to 10 kts during the overnight hours. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && weather.gov/glasgow
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
By the third week of April, and persisting through the end of the month, drought conditions (D2-Severe) drastically expanded westward to spread across all but the southeastern corner of Garfield County.
By the third week of April, and persisting through the end of the month, drought conditions (D2-Severe) drastically expanded westward to spread across all but the southwestern corner of Petroleum County.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, April 2021
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: 952178, 952183.