Montana, 2022

Cold in Montana, February 3 to 4, 2022

February 3 to 4, 2022 · NWS GGW · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An arctic air mass slowly moving over the region allowed arctic air much colder than normal to persist over the northeast corner of Montana. Winds gusting up to 20 mph created dangerously cold wind chills for Sheridan County.

Where it happened

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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 GGW wrote it up.

An arctic air mass slowly moving over the region allowed arctic air much colder than normal to persist over the northeast corner of Montana. Winds gusting up to 20 mph created dangerously cold wind chills for Sheridan County.

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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 2, 9:02 PM MST, 6 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 2, 9:02 PM MST, 6 hours 13 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Glasgow MT
902 PM MST Wed Feb 2 2022

.EVENING UPDATE...
Temperatures cooling off a little faster than originally thought
in the southwestern zones. Went ahead and added Petroleum and The
Little Rockies to the existing Wind Chill Advisories.

RMB

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...
A cold day today saw high temperatures largely in the single
digits above and below zero with wind chills generally in the
teens below zero. Another cold night is in store tonight with lows
in the teens below zero in the far northeast corner of the state
and the single digits below zero most other locations. A Wind
Chill Advisory remains in effect for most of Northeast Montana
through 11AM Thursday with a Wind Chill Warning in effect for
Sheridan County starting this evening.

A warming trend begins tomorrow as a large upper-level ridge
begins to build onshore across the West Coast. A short-wave trough
will move through the generally northwest flow in place across
Northeast Montana Friday night. This will bring a chance of rain/snow
showers to the region with little in the way of accumulation
expected. Areas near the Canadian border could see around a half
inch of snow.

Additionally, strong winds around 850 mb will bring the chance for
high winds Friday night, particularly in the vicinity of the
Little Rockies. There is a 75 percent chance wind gusts will
exceed 50 mph in the Little Rockies and a 25 percent chance gusts
exceed 65 mph. A High Wind Watch may need to be issued for this
area. Elsewhere, widespread wind gusts in excess of 40 mph are
expected.

As more notable ridging builds across the West over the weekend
and into next week, a marked warm-up is expected. Widespread
temperatures in the 40s and even 50s looks likely for a good
portion of next week. Some record highs may even be challenged.

-Mottice

&&

.AVIATION...
VFR conditions are expected through the forecast period with
generally light and variable winds.

&&

.GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Wind Chill Advisory until 11 AM MST Thursday for Central and
Southeast Phillips...Central and Southern Valley...Daniels...
Dawson...Eastern Roosevelt...Garfield...McCone...Northern
Phillips...Northern Valley...Petroleum...Prairie...Richland...
Southwest Phillips...Western Roosevelt...Wibaux.

Wind Chill Warning until 11 AM MST Thursday for Sheridan.

&&

weather.gov/glasgow

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Cold/Wind Chill, Sheridan

When
February 3, 3:15 AM MST to February 4, 4:47 AM MST
Where
Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
48.721, -104.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

For multiple sites across Sheridan County, temperatures in the teens below zero and breezy winds created a brief time period of wind chills of -40 on the early morning of the 3rd, and intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse during the early morning hours of the 4th. The peak wind chill of -43 was recorded at the Comertown Turn-Off MT-5 DOT site (MTCOM) from 3:46 AM to 3:47 AM on the 4th.

What these are

Cold/Wind Chill
Cold or wind chill below warning criteria that caused deaths, injuries or damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 1006930.