Montana, 2021

Extreme Cold in Montana, December 25 to 27, 2021

December 25 to 27, 2021 · NWS MSO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A push of Arctic air came over the Continental Divide bringing windy conditions and low wind chill values.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

A push of Arctic air came over the Continental Divide bringing windy conditions and low wind chill values.

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 Dec 25, 3:28 PM MST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 25, 3:28 PM MST, 1 hour 32 minutes before
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      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Dec 25, 11:03 AM MST, 5 hours 57 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
1103 AM MST SAT DEC 25 2021

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1000 AM     SNOW             6 N WHITEFISH           48.50N 114.34W
12/25/2021  M7.0 INCH        FLATHEAD           MT   MESONET

            MESONET STATION BIGMS 6.3 N WHITEFISH (GNP).

&&

JM
Local storm report, Dec 25, 1:00 PM MST, 4 hours before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 extreme cold/wind chill. Local standard time, as filed.

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill, West Glacier Region

When
December 25, 5:00 PM MST to December 27, 5:00 AM MST
Where
West Glacier Region forecast zone
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
47.971, -114.069 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wind gusts of 15-25 miles per hour and well below zero air temperatures resulted in extended periods of wind chills of -30F to -50F. The coldest observed wind chill was -52F at the Snowslip sensor above US Highway 2.

What these are

Extreme Cold/Wind Chill
Temperatures or wind chills at or below the local warning criteria, or cold that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, December 2021

Sources

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: 997622.