Strong northwesterly winds up to 45 mph behind an Arctic Front caused blowing snow with visibility below a half mile as well as wind chills approaching 60 degrees below zero.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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.
Strong northwesterly winds up to 45 mph behind an Arctic Front caused blowing snow with visibility below a half mile as well as wind chills approaching 60 degrees below zero.
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 Dec 22, 2:15 AM MST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Glasgow MT 215 AM MST Thu Dec 22 2022 .DISCUSSION... ...Dangerous wind chills will continue until Friday across NE Montana while blowing snow will significantly reduce visibility at times through this afternoon... ...Will issue a Blizzard Warning for Wibaux and Dawson Counties today... The combination of NW winds gusting to 40+ mph and blowing snow has created whiteout conditions across parts of Dawson and Wibaux. Will upgrade Winter Weather Advisory to a Blizzard Warning there. Will maintain Winter Weather Advisory over the remainder of the forecast area today until 5 pm. Visibility has been as low as one mile in some areas overnight. NW winds will continue at 15 to 30 mph today. Ensembles generally keep the gusty NW winds going until late afternoon and diminishes the winds this evening. The Arctic airmass and associated wind chill danger will continue through Friday or Friday night. As the 1060mb surface high slides southeast from Canada, Arctic temperatures will remain in place. Currently, the coldest conditions are expected Thursday night and Friday morning when widespread lows in the 30 to 40 below range are expected. That is when the center of the Arctic high will move through eastern Montana with mostly clear skies and light winds. Should an overnight low occur of 30 below, it will be Glasgow's first -30 or colder low since Feb 8, 2019 and first -30 in December since Dec 31, 2017. For reference, the last time Glasgow was colder than -35 was Feb 1, 2011 when the low was -37. As the Arctic high slides east on Friday and an upper ridge approaches for Saturday, warm air aloft will approach the region. Some moisture overrunning a warm front to the west Friday night will bring a chance of light snow to parts of the region. A shortwave and surface frontal system Saturday night and Sunday will help mix this warmer air down through the boundary layer and put an end to the Arctic temperatures for now. There will be will be increasing chances for mixed precipitation including snow, freezing rain, and rain with this system. Temperatures will be above normal for late December most of the time next week with chances for mixed precipitation at times. && .AVIATION... Expect a range of VFR to IFR conditions today. The reduced visibility will mainly come from areas of blowing snow today while there will be low clouds with a mix of IFR, MVFR, and VFR ceilings. Skies will clear this evening but ice fog may develop tonight with temperatures in the -30s which will reduce visibility. Winds will be northwest at 15 to 30 kts, gusting to 35 kts at times through this afternoon. Winds will become light and variable this evening. && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Wind Chill Warning until noon MST Friday for Central and Southeast Phillips...Central and Southern Valley...Daniels... Dawson...Eastern Roosevelt...Garfield...McCone...Northern Phillips...Northern Valley...Petroleum...Prairie...Richland... Sheridan...Southwest Phillips...Western Roosevelt...Wibaux. Winter Weather Advisory until 5 PM MST this afternoon for Central and Southeast Phillips...Central and Southern Valley... Daniels...Eastern Roosevelt...Garfield...McCone...Northern Phillips...Northern Valley...Petroleum...Prairie...Richland... Sheridan...Southwest Phillips...Western Roosevelt. Blizzard Warning until 5 PM MST this afternoon for Dawson... Wibaux. && weather.gov/glasgow
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
Intermittent blizzard conditions were reported from the morning to late afternoon on the 22nd, at the Beach Airport AWOS.
Intermittent blizzard conditions were reported from the morning to the late afternoon hours on the 22nd, at the Glendive Airport (KGDV) ASOS.
Intermittent blizzard conditions were reported from midday to mid afternoon on the 22nd, at the Sher-wood Airport (KPWD) AWOS.
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, December 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: 1067874, 1067875, 1067872.