Montana, 2022Cold in Montana, January 4 to 7, 2022
January 4 to 7, 2022 · NWS GGW · 14 events in 14 counties and zones
Continued cold air from Canada became more entrenched and more widespread, and combined with gusty northwest winds to create dangerous wind chill values for many locations across northeast Montana.
Every event with a place to put it; 14 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 14
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.
Continued cold air from Canada became more entrenched and more widespread, and combined with gusty northwest winds to create dangerous wind chill values for many locations across northeast Montana.
Cold/Wind Chill, Central and Se Phillips
- When
- January 4, 11:00 AM MST to January 6, 12:35 PM MST
- Where
- Central and Se Phillips forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
- Coordinates
- 48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across Central and Southeast Phillips County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the morning of the 4th into the early afternoon of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -53 was recorded at 9:00 AM on the 6th at the mesonet site located 5 miles south of Malta.
Cold/Wind Chill, Dawson
- When
- January 4, 1:54 PM MST to January 6, 7:50 AM MST
- Where
- Dawson forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 47.266, -104.899 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across Dawson County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the afternoon of the 4th into the morning of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -53 was recorded from 8:19 AM on the 5th at the Lindsay Divide MT-200 DOT site (LDSM8).
Cold/Wind Chill, Central and Southern Valley
- When
- January 4, 5:20 PM MST to January 6, 10:53 AM MST
- Where
- Central and Southern Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
- Coordinates
- 48.365, -106.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across Central and Southern Valley County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the evening of the 4th into the morning of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -50 was recorded multiple times between 3:40 AM and 8:10 AM on the 5th at the Saint Marie MARCO mesonet site (07MT).
Cold/Wind Chill, Prairie
- When
- January 4, 7:08 PM MST to January 5, 8:08 PM MST
- Where
- Prairie forecast zone
- Reported by
- RAWS
- Coordinates
- 46.861, -105.378 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
At the Big Sheep Mountain RAWS site (LCFM8), temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the night of the 4th into the night of the 5th. The peak wind chill of -50 was recorded from 9:08 AM to 10:08 AM on the 5th.
Cold/Wind Chill, Northern Valley
- When
- January 4, 7:44 PM MST to January 6, 8:44 AM MST
- Where
- Northern Valley forecast zone
- Reported by
- RAWS
- Coordinates
- 48.365, -106.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
At the Bluff Creek RAWS site (BLUM8), temperatures in the teens to 30s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the night of the 4th into the morning of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -46 was recorded at 1:44 AM on the 5th.
Cold/Wind Chill, Little Rocky Mountains
- When
- January 4, 8:39 PM MST to January 6, 5:41 AM MST
- Where
- Little Rocky Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites in the Little Rocky Mountains, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the night of the 4th to the morning of the 6th . The peak wind chill of -45 was recorded at 3:11 AM on the 5th at the Malta South US-191 DOT site (MTMAL).
Cold/Wind Chill, Western Roosevelt
- When
- January 4, 9:01 PM MST to January 6, 6:30 PM MST
- Where
- Western Roosevelt forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 48.295, -105.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across Western Roosevelt County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the night of the 4th into the night of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -51 was recorded at 10:12 PM on the 5th at the McDonald's MT-13 DOT site (MTMCD).
Cold/Wind Chill, McCone
- When
- January 4, 9:23 PM MST to January 6, 7:04 AM MST
- Where
- McCone forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 47.645, -105.795 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across McCone County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the night of the 4th into the morning of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -47 was recorded at 7:50 AM on the 5th at the Fort Peck Dam handar site (GGWFP) and at 9:24 AM on the 5th at the Cow Creek MT-13 DOT site (MTCOW).
Cold/Wind Chill, Wibaux
- When
- January 4, 11:15 PM MST to January 6, 5:55 AM MST
- Where
- Wibaux forecast zone
- Reported by
- ASOS
- Coordinates
- 46.965, -104.249 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
At the Beach, ND ASOS site (K20U) near Wibaux County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from late night on the 4th to the early morning of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -46 was recorded at 5:35 AM and 6:35 AM.
Cold/Wind Chill, Richland
- When
- January 4, 11:30 PM MST to January 6, 4:56 AM MST
- Where
- Richland forecast zone
- Reported by
- Mesonet
- Coordinates
- 47.788, -104.561 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across Richland County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from late night on the 4th into the early morning of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -46 was recorded at 10:31 PM and 11:45 PM on the 5th, and at 12:30 AM on the 6th at the Badger Creek CWOP mesonet site (FW2498).
Cold/Wind Chill, Daniels
- When
- January 4, 11:45 PM MST to January 6, 7:16 PM MST
- Where
- Daniels forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 48.784, -105.549 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across Daniels County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from late night of the 4th into the night of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -53 was recorded multiple times between 9:32 PM and 10:32 PM at the Navajo MT-5 DOT site (MTRED).
Cold/Wind Chill, Garfield
- When
- January 5, 12:22 AM MST to 10:52 AM MST
- Where
- Garfield forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across Garfield County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the early morning on the 5th to the early morning on the 6th. The peak wind chill of -46 was recorded from 6:52 AM to 7:07 AM on the 5th at the Lufborough Hill MT-200 DOT site (MTLUF).
Cold/Wind Chill, Eastern Roosevelt
- When
- January 5, 3:30 AM MST to January 6, 7:18 PM MST
- Where
- Eastern Roosevelt forecast zone
- Reported by
- Department of Highways
- Coordinates
- 48.295, -105.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
For multiple sites across Eastern Roosevelt County, temperatures in the teens and 20s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse from the early morning of the 5th into the night of the 6th. The peak wind chill of -49 was recorded from 1:29 AM to 1:39 AM on the 6th at the US-2 Stateline DOT site (MTSTA).
Cold/Wind Chill, Sheridan
- When
- January 5, 5:05 AM MST to January 7, 1:30 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 from the teens to 30s below zero and breezy winds created intermittent periods of wind chills of -40 or worse beginning as early as the morning of the 5th and lasting as long as the early morning of the 7th. The peak wind chill of -55 was recorded from 1:16 AM to 1:32 AM on the 6th at the Comertown Turn-OFF MT-5 DOT site (MTCOM).
- 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.
- Extreme Cold in South Dakota, January 4 to 7, 202223 events
- Blizzard and Winter Storm in Montana, January 4 to 7, 202270 kt wind · 20 events
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Colorado, January 4 to 6, 202216 events
- Blizzard in North Dakota, January 4 to 5, 202215 events
- High Wind in South Dakota, January 4, 202263 kt wind · 14 events
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Wyoming, January 4 to 7, 202214 events
- High Wind in South Dakota, January 4, 202257 kt wind · 12 events
- High Wind in South Dakota, January 4 to 5, 202267 kt wind · 9 events
- Winter Storm and High Wind in Wyoming, January 4 to 6, 202255 kt wind · 9 events
- High Wind in Colorado, January 4, 202263 kt wind · 8 events
- Blizzard in Minnesota, January 4 to 5, 20228 events
- Flooding in Illinois, January 4 to 17, 20227 events
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1003339, 1003346, 1003340, 1003349, 1001196, 1003343, 1003341, 1003345, 1003348, 1003347, 1001197, 1003344, 1003342, 1001198.