High Wind in Montana, February 19 to 20, 2022

Name: High Wind in Montana, February 19 to 20, 2022
Start: 2022-02-19T11:30
End: 2022-02-20T06:30
Location: Montana

February 19 to 20, 2022 · NWS TFX · 12 events in 12 counties and zones

An upper level trough swung through the area, which brought widespread high winds to the Plains of North-Central Montana.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 12

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 TFX wrote it up.

An upper level trough swung through the area, which brought widespread high winds to the Plains of North-Central Montana.

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 19, 10:50 AM MST, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 19, 10:50 AM MST, 40 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
1050 AM MST Sat Feb 19 2022

Aviation Section Updated.

.SYNOPSIS...

Strong westerly winds along the Rocky Mountain Front will move
onto the plains today and persist through the evening hours. A
strong cold front will then move north to south on Sunday into
early Monday, bringing widespread bitterly cold temperatures and
snow through mid-week. A slow warming trend will take place for
the second half of the week.

&&

.Update...

Morning update has been published, with no significant changes
made to the previous forecast. South to west winds will continue
to strengthen across the entire region through the day today, with
the strongest winds expected across Central and North Central
Montana through the mid-evening hours tonight. Focus for the
remainder of the day will be on the arrival of a strong Arctic
cold front later tonight and through the day on Sunday, which will
bring widespread accumulating snow and falling temperatures.
Initial thoughts this morning with regards to the current Winter
Storm Watch is that all areas will see an upgrade to either an
advisory or warning with the afternoon forecast issuance as
widespread impacts are expected through Monday morning. - Moldan

&&

.AVIATION...
1050 AM MST Sat Feb 19 2022 (19/18Z TAF period)

Strong southwest winds continue this afternoon over the plains,
persisting well into the mid- to late evening period. Some
precipitation could develop along the Continental Divide during the
afternoon, but the main cold front/snow event with IFR or lower
conditions is late tonight (along the Hi-Line) into Sunday (the
remainder of the region).

Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather
and hazard information.

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION...
/ISSUED 418 AM MST Sat Feb 19 2022/

Today through Saturday...Westerly flow aloft is increasing ahead
of an approaching upper level trough of low pressure this morning.
Gusty surface winds have developed along the Rocky Mountain Front
and to a lesser degree over the plains. Today's primary concerns
will be these winds. The latest NBM 4.1 probabilistic guidance now
indicates over a 70 percent chance of wind gusts exceeding 73 mph
along the Rocky Mountain Front and eastern Glacier County, with
over 50 percent chance of wind gusts exceeding 55 mph on the lee
side of the central ranges. There was some consideration to expand
the High wind Warning to include all of north-central Mt, but
will hold off due to marginal probabilities of achieving criteria
gusts. In addition to the strong winds on today, Pacific moisture
being transported east within the zonal flow will lead to
increasing snow chances along the Continental Divide and possibly
as far east as the United States Hwy 89 corridor along the
Northern Rocky Mountain Front. Accumulating Snow can be expected
by this afternoon in these areas, primarily above 4500 ft.
Additional snow is expected tonight and through Monday morning,
with storm total snowfall accumulations of 5 to 11 inches at lower
elevations and 12 to 22 over Marias Pass and in the mountains.
The Winter Storm Watch has been upgraded to a Winter Storm Warning
as confidence of impactful snow and wind continues to increase.

Saturday night through Wednesday night...Attention then turns to
the broad trough and an Arctic air mass that will become
established over the region for much of next week. The initial
frontal boundary will cross the Canadian border shortly after
midnight, pass through central/north-central on Sunday, and likely
clear the southwest by Monday morning. A brief period gusty
northerly winds up to 40 mph followed by the development of
widespread snow can be expected with the frontal passage. There
still looks to be sufficient synoptic lift, dynamics, and moisture
to provide the most significant and widespread snow event of the
season thus far. The NBM 4.1 snowfall accumulation probabilities
are still indicative of 2-6" at lower elevations and 6-12" over
higher terrain through Monday afternoon. A quick drop in
temperature may cause a flash freeze of initially wet road
surfaces, in addition to reduced visibility due to falling and/or
blowing snow. There are also concerns of impacts to ranching
operations, specifically the impacts to newborn livestock, with
severe to extreme conditions expected to newborn animals during
this time frame. Snow does begin to slowly taper off on Monday
afternoon, but favorable upslope flow and the presence of a cold
trough overhead may maintain periods of lighter snow through late
Tuesday. Aside from upgrading the Northern Rocky Mountain Front
zone to a Winter Storm Warning, no other changes were made to the
current winter weather products. The remaining Winter Storm
Watches will likely be converted to Winter Weather Advisories
Bitterly cold temperatures are expected for the first half of next
week, likely bottoming out in the teens to near 20 below for most
areas Wednesday morning. Wind chill products will be considered
during this time as apparent temperatures of 20 to 40 below will
be possible. Highs will generally range from the single digits
above/below zero to the teens through Wednesday afternoon.
Forecast temperatures for this period were lowered toward the 25th
percentile of guidance.

Thursday through next Saturday...Drier and moderating conditions
are generally expected for this period as the cold trough exits
the region. Afternoon temperatures begin to trend closer to
average, but a passing shortwave thursday night/Friday may
increase the chance for snow showers, mostly for the mountains.
Warmer westerly flow aloft will likely bring a return to gusty
surface winds and near normal temperatures for next weekend. -RCG

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GTF  53  16  25  -4 /  20  50 100 100
CTB  48   7  14  -8 /  20  70  90  80
HLN  53  28  33   2 /  20  50  90  90
BZN  50  25  35   5 /  10  50  90  80
WYS  32  15  30   4 /  20  60 100 100
DLN  50  27  38  11 /   0  20  90  60
HVR  50   8  16  -5 /  50  80  90  60
LWT  48  19  27  -3 /  20  40 100 100

&&

.TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
High Wind Warning until 10 PM MST this evening Cascade...Central
and Southern Lewis and Clark...Chouteau...Eastern Glacier...
Eastern Pondera...Eastern Teton...Judith Basin...Northern Rocky
Mountain Front...Southern Rocky Mountain Front...Toole.

Winter Storm Watch from late tonight through Monday morning
Cascade...Central and Southern Lewis and Clark...Fergus...Judith
Basin...Meagher...Southern Rocky Mountain Front.

Winter Storm Watch from this evening through Monday morning
Blaine...Chouteau...Eastern Glacier...Eastern Pondera...Eastern
Teton...Hill...Liberty...Toole.

Winter Storm Watch from Sunday morning through Monday morning
Beaverhead...Broadwater...Gallatin...Jefferson...Madison.

Winter Storm Warning until 8 AM MST Monday Northern Rocky
Mountain Front.

&&

http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls

In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 19, 6:08 AM MST, 5 hours 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
608 AM MST SAT FEB 19 2022

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

0221 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 8 SE EAST GLACIER PARK  48.36N 113.11W
02/19/2022  M80 MPH          GLACIER            MT   MESONET

            MESONET STATION DCRM8 DEEP CREEK RAWS.

&&

MOLDAN

Local storm report, Feb 19, 6:45 AM MST, 4 hours 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
645 AM MST SAT FEB 19 2022

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

0625 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 2 SE BROWNING           48.54N 112.98W
02/19/2022  M64 MPH          GLACIER            MT   MESONET

            MESONET STATION MTBWG BROWNING (MT DOT).

&&

MOLDAN

Local storm report, Feb 19, 7:03 AM MST, 4 hours 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
703 AM MST SAT FEB 19 2022

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

0652 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 8 NNE AUGUSTA           47.60N 112.32W
02/19/2022  M55 MPH          TETON              MT   AWOS

            AWOS STATION K1FM FOXTROT.

&&

MOLDAN

Local storm report, Feb 19, 9:22 AM MST, 2 hours 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
922 AM MST SAT FEB 19 2022

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

0900 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 14 W BYNUM              47.98N 112.61W
02/19/2022  M74 MPH          TETON              MT   MESONET

            MESONET STATION DELMT DELLWO (MCSCN).

&&

MOLDAN

Local storm report, Feb 19, 11:02 AM MST, 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1102 AM MST SAT FEB 19 2022

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

1100 AM     NON-TSTM WND GST 14 NNW JOPLIN           48.74N 110.93W
02/19/2022  M58 MPH          LIBERTY            MT   MESONET

            MESONET STATION DW4821 CHESTER.

&&

MOLDAN

Event by event

12 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Liberty

When: February 19, 11:30 AM MST
Where: Liberty forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Mesonet station dw4821 Chester measured a 64 mph gust.

High Wind, Judith Basin

When: February 19, 12:28 PM MST
Where: Judith Basin forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS

AWOS station k1cm charlie measured a 59 mph gust.

High Wind, Chouteau

When: February 19, 12:30 PM MST
Where: Chouteau forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Mesonet station mtm02 10.2 S Loma (mt-meso) measured a 59 mph wind gust.

High Wind, North Rocky Mountain Front

When: February 19, 1:16 PM MST
Where: North Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Measured: 75 kt (86 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Mesonet station mtbrn two medicine bridge (mt dot) measured an 86 mph wind gust.

High Wind, Southern Lewis and Clark

When: February 19, 2:42 PM MST
Where: Southern Lewis and Clark forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Mesonet station mtmdp MacDonald pass (mt dot) measured a 63 mph wind gust.

High Wind, Eastern Glacier

When: February 19, 2:54 PM MST
Where: Eastern Glacier forecast zone
Measured: 63 kt (72 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS

ASOS station KCTB Cut Bank airport measured a wind gust of 72 mph.

High Wind, Southern Rocky Mountain Front

When: February 19, 4:45 PM MST
Where: Southern Rocky Mountain Front forecast zone
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Mesonet station ricmt rice ridge measured a 75 mph gust.

High Wind, Eastern Pondera

When: February 19, 6:30 PM MST
Where: Eastern Pondera forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Mesonet station mtm05 arc-wtri conrad measured a 60 mph gust.

High Wind, Hill

When: February 19, 6:42 PM MST
Where: Hill forecast zone
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS

ASOS station KHVR Havre airport measured a 61 mph gust.

High Wind, Cascade

When: February 19, 6:53 PM MST
Where: Cascade forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) measured gust
Reported by: ASOS

Great Falls Airport ASOS measured a 58 mph gust.

High Wind, Blaine

When: February 19, 7:00 PM MST
Where: Blaine forecast zone
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Wind gust of 62 mph measured at mesonet station mtm52 7.1 SE Hogeland (mt-meso).

High Wind, Toole

When: February 20, 6:30 AM MST
Where: Toole forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) measured gust
Reported by: Mesonet

Mesonet station mtm53 mda Oilmont measured a 64 mph gust 8.5 hours after the HWW ended.

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, February 2022

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: 1011532, 1011528, 1011515, 1011517, 1011530, 1011519, 1011536, 1011534, 1011526, 1011513, 1011511, 1011650.