A trough and attendant cold front passing through the area helped to mix down H850-700 jet max of 50-60 kts across the Hi-Line.
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 TFX wrote it up.
A trough and attendant cold front passing through the area helped to mix down H850-700 jet max of 50-60 kts across the Hi-Line.
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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 18, 10:50 PM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 1150 PM MDT Mon Apr 18 2022 Aviation Section Updated .UPDATE... The only change for the evening update was to lower minimum humidity values for Tuesday afternoon over the region. && .SYNOPSIS... A Pacific front will bring accumulating snow to the mountains on Tuesday, in addition to strong westerly winds to the plains of Central and North Central Montana. High temperatures will remain below normal through the rest of the work week, with the potential for another spring storm to end the work week and into the weekend. && .AVIATION... 1150 PM MDT Mon Apr 18 2022 (19/06Z TAF period) VFR conditions are expected over the northern Plains through the period, but do expect strong surface winds during the afternoon/evening hours. Rain/snow develops along the divide by 12z and spreads over Southwest MT during the morning hours, exiting Southwest MT during the late afternoon hours. Some IFR conditions are likely in/near areas of snow. Mountains will be obscured along the divide and across much of Southwest MT through about 00z Wed. Lighter surface winds move into the entire region after 01z Wed. Brusda Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather and hazard information. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 525 PM MDT Mon Apr 18 2022/ Rest of Today through Thursday night...primary concerns throughout the period is accumulating snow (tonight through Tuesday evening) and High Winds (Tuesday afternoon through Tuesday evening/night). Ridging over the Northern Rockies will build east to over the Northern High Plains through the overnight hours as a fast moving shortwave trough (currently moving over the coast of the Pacific Northwest) slides east overnight. At the surface, cyclogenesis was underway this afternoon in lee of the Canadian Rockies, with the surface low expected to strengthen to ~990mb as it moves east and away from the mountains and out over the plains of Southeast Alberta/Southwest Saskatchewan through Tuesday afternoon. As the surface low begins to move eastward Tuesday morning, it will drag a Pacific cold front from west to east across the Northern Rockies, with the front expected to clear eastern portions of the CWA by 18z Tuesday. This Pacific cold front will bring increasing chances for snow (possibly a rain/snow mix at lower elevations) to areas along and southwest of a Browning to Kings Hill Pass line on Tuesday. Orographic precipitation (snow) is likely along the Continental Divide tonight prior to the front Tuesday morning, with snow then expanding in areal coverage along and in wake of the front across Southwest and portions of Central Montana during the day on Tuesday. Snowfall accumulations across lower elevations from tonight through Tuesday evening of less than 0.5" are possible, with 1-3" over mountain passes and 3-6" above pass levels. Given that most if not all of the snow will be falling during the daylight hours of Tuesday, expect most of the accumulating snow to be confined to shaded and grassy surfaces, with most road surfaces remaining wet. For this reason we will continue to hold off on any Winter Weather highlights, and address any minor impacts with a SPS. In addition to the chance for precipitation, the Pacific front on Tuesday will also bring increasing westerly winds, especially to the plains of Central and North Central Montana. The High Wind Warning that was initially in place for the Rocky Mountain Front, Glacier, and Toole Counties has been expanded further east to include Eastern Pondera, Liberty, and Hill Counties. Confidence is high (>80%) that High Winds will be realized across these areas, especially given favorable timing of the surface front/upper level trough axis passage and a H850-700 jet max of 50-60kts moving over these areas. The High Wind Warning start time for the Rocky Mountain Front was moved up to 15z Tuesday given an earlier expected arrival time of the winds, with the remaining High Wind Warning areas starting at 18z Tuesday. Further to the east over eastern portions of the CWA, the High Wind Watch for Fergus County was cancelled as confidence is high that winds will remain below warning criteria here. The watch for Blaine and Chouteau Counties was left as is given continued uncertainty. Probabilistic support for high winds across Chouteau and Blaine counties remains low (10-40%) across most areas; however, given the favorable pattern I was not confident enough to cancel the watch. Will let future shifts address these two remaining counties for either a cancellation or upgrade. - Moldan Friday through Monday...Another spring storm will move into the central Rocky mountain states by Friday and lift out to the northern US plains this weekend. Our area will be on the northern/western edge of this system but there is a considerable amount of uncertainty regarding the western extent of heavier precipitation as the circulation lifts north into the Dakotas Friday/Saturday. Recent trends among some model/ensemble systems have shown a western shift with a more extended period of moist northerly flow around the low centered east of the area, which would bring considerably more precipitation to the area than is indicated by the current blended model solution, especially over and adjacent to the central MT mountains. While this is not the most likely forecast scenario, it's worth noting the trend and potential for cooler temperatures and impactful precipitation/snow. This system would not be as cold as the previous spring storm system, resulting a greater impact of timing on the ability to accumulate on road surfaces. Some drying and gradual warming is likely after the system exits the area late this weekend into early next week. Hoenisch && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 33 49 26 48 / 10 20 0 0 CTB 29 44 25 44 / 10 10 0 0 HLN 35 50 27 53 / 30 40 10 0 BZN 31 49 23 51 / 30 70 20 10 WYS 26 42 16 44 / 40 100 40 20 DLN 33 47 23 49 / 40 70 10 10 HVR 31 52 28 46 / 10 10 0 0 LWT 32 50 25 44 / 10 20 0 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from 9 AM Tuesday to midnight MDT Tuesday night Northern Rocky Mountain Front...Southern Rocky Mountain Front. High Wind Watch from Tuesday afternoon through late Tuesday night Blaine...Chouteau. High Wind Warning from noon Tuesday to midnight MDT Tuesday night Eastern Glacier...Eastern Pondera...Hill...Liberty...Toole. && http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
326 AM MDT TUE APR 19 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0305 AM NON-TSTM WND GST 21 SW LIMA 44.47N 112.95W
04/19/2022 M57 MPH BEAVERHEAD MT MESONET
MESONET STATION HRKM8 HARKNESS RAWS.
&&
BRUSDA10 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Two sensors measured gusts of 58 mph or greater, including mesonet station bdlm8 Beaverhead Deerlodge No 2 which measured a 61 mph gust.
Mesonet station delmt Dellwo (mcscn) measured a wind gust of 65 mph outside the warning valid time.
Multiple sensors measured gusts of 58 mph or greater, including mesonet station mtswt Sweetgrass (MT DOT) which measured a wind gust of 63 mph. The initial wind gust that met criteria was before the warning was valid.
Two sensors measured gusts of 58 mph or greater, including Mesonet station ew1937 Goldstone which measured a wind gust of 61 mph.
Multiple sensors measured winds gusts of 58 mph or greater, including mesonet station mtm02 10.2 S Loma (MT-MESO) which measured a gust of 59 mph.
Mesonet station ts705 Lewistown Portable No 2 measured a single wind gust of 59 mph.
ASOS station KCTB Cut Bank Airport measured a single gust of 60 mph.
Mesonet station fw2944 Belt measured a single gust of 66 mph.
Mesonet station ARC-wtri Conrad measured a single gust of 58 mph.
Two sensors measured wind gusts of 58 mph or greater, including mesonet station gw0416 Joplin which measured a 59 mph gust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, April 2022
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: 1016171, 1016182, 1016184, 1016177, 1016173, 1016175, 1016176, 1016172, 1016180, 1016178.