Drought in Montana, May 1 to 31, 2022

Name: Drought in Montana, May 1 to 31, 2022
Start: 2022-05-01T00:00
End: 2022-05-31T23:59
Location: Montana

May 1 to 31, 2022 · NWS GGW · 16 events in 16 counties and zones

Ongoing drought conditions continued into May. A large storm system moving through on May 12th and 13th gave some substantial wetting rains which would help improve drought conditions.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 16 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 16

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.

Ongoing drought conditions continued into May. A large storm system moving through on May 12th and 13th gave some substantial wetting rains which would help improve drought conditions.

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 Apr 30, 7:51 PM MST, 4 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 7:51 PM MST, 4 hours 9 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Glasgow MT
851 PM MDT Sat Apr 30 2022

.DISCUSSION...
Convective rain showers have diminished across the area. Light
winds and partly cloudy skies could lead to patchy fog but it
looks like winds and clouds will increase later tonight.
Therefore, going forecast looks to be in good shape. TFJ

Previous Discussion...
Lingering left-over isolated rain showers from last night's
departing storm system have persisted for a generally large
portion of northeast Montana, which seems to be influenced, at
least in part, by a weak, inverted surface trough.

Tonight, those showers will dissipate and skies will become mostly
clear, but some higher level clouds will approach from the west.
Here locally, Sunday will be partly cloudy and comfortably warm.

Monday, winds are expected to be strong enough to warrant a Lake
Wind Advisory.

Most of next week will feature a repeated storm track from
Oregon, through Utah, through Kansas. We will be far enough
removed from all of that energy that our forecast is mainly dry.

By next weekend, the pattern changes to a wide-open low pressure
trough moving into the Pacific Northwest states, increasing our
chances for precipitation. ---BMickelson

&&

.AVIATION...

LAST UPDATED: 0250Z

FLIGHT CAT: VFR.

DISCUSSION: Expect partly cloudy conditions with light NE winds
tonight then an increase in mid-level clouds from the west Sunday.

Winds will increase to 10-15 kts from the NE or E Sunday. TFJ

&&

.GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

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

16 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Sheridan

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Sheridan forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.721, -104.505 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions in Sheridan County were at (D2-Severe) conditions for the entire county. By the third week in May the eastern two thirds of Sheridan County improved to (D1-Moderate) drought, while the western third remained in (D2-Severe) drought. At the end of May the eastern half of the county improved to (D0-Abnormally Dry) conditions while the western half improved to (D1-Moderate) drought.

Drought, Daniels

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Daniels forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.784, -105.549 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions in all of Daniels County were at (D2-Severe) drought. By the end of May, conditions in all of Daniels County had improved to (D1-Moderate) drought.

Drought, Eastern Roosevelt

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Eastern Roosevelt forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.295, -105.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions in all of Eastern Roosevelt County was in (D2-Severe) conditions. By the third week of May the eastern two thirds of Eastern Roosevelt County had improved to (D1-Moderate) drought, while the western third of the county remained in (D2-Severe) conditions. By the end of the month, the eastern quarter of Eastern Roosevelt County had improved to (D0-Abnormally Dry) conditions while the western three quarters of the county improved to (D1-Moderate) drought.

Drought, Richland

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Richland forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 47.788, -104.561 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

At the start of May all of Richland County was in (D2-Severe) conditions. By the third week of May all but the far western part of Richland County had improved to (D1-Moderate) drought, while the far western part remained in (D2-Severe) conditions. By the end of May, the far eastern portion of Richland County improved to (D0-Abnormally Dry) conditions, the far western portion remained in (D2-Severe) conditions while the middle portion, making up the majority of Richland County improved to (D1-Moderate) drought.

Drought, Dawson

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Dawson forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 47.266, -104.899 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, the northwestern two thirds of Dawson County were in (D2-Severe) conditions and the southeastern third of Dawson County was in (D1-Moderate) conditions. On the third week of May, all but the far northwest corner of Dawson County improved to (D1-Moderate) conditions while the far northwest corner remained in (D2-Severe) drought. These conditions would remain the same through the end of May.

Drought, Wibaux

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Wibaux forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 46.965, -104.249 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions Wibaux County was at (D2-Severe) drought in the far northern part of the county, while the rest of the county were in (D1-Moderate) conditions. On the third week of May, the northwestern half of the county improved to (D1-Moderate) conditions while the southeastern half improved to (D0-Abnormally Dry) conditions. By the end of May, the northwest and southwest corners of Wibaux County remained in (D1-Moderate) drought, while the eastern three quarters of the county improved to (D0-Abnormally Dry) conditions.

Drought, Prairie

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Prairie forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 46.861, -105.378 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, the northern quarter of Prairie County was in (D2-Severe) conditions, while the southern three quarters were in (D1-Moderate) drought. By the third week of May, all but the far northwest corner of Prairie County had improved to (D1-Moderate) drought, while the far northwest corner remained in (D2-Severe) conditions. These conditions would remain the same through the end of the May.

Drought, Western Roosevelt

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Western Roosevelt forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.295, -105.016 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, all of Western Roosevelt County was in (D2-Severe) conditions. By the end of the month the northeastern half of the county improved to (D1-Moderate) drought while the southwestern half of the county remained in (D2-Severe) conditions.

Drought, McCone

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: McCone forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 47.645, -105.795 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start April, ongoing drought conditions in all of McCone County was at (D2-Severe) conditions. By the third week of May, the far southeastern corner of the county improved to (D1-Moderate) drought, while the rest of McCone County remained in (D2-Severe) conditions. These conditions would remain the same through the end of the month.

Drought, Northern Valley

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Northern Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.365, -106.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions in all of Northern Valley County was in (D2-Severe) conditions. By the end of May, the southwestern corner and western border of Northern Valley County remained in (D2-Severe) conditions, while the rest of Northern Valley County improved to (D1-Moderate) drought.

Drought, Central and Southern Valley

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Central and Southern Valley forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.365, -106.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions in all of Central and Southern Valley County was at (D2-Severe) conditions. By the end of May the far northeastern corner of Central and Southern Valley County improved to (D1-Moderate) drought, while the remainder of the county remained in (D2-Severe) conditions.

Drought, Garfield

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Garfield forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions were at (D2-Severe) conditions in all but the extreme southeastern corner of Garfield County, which was in (D1-Moderate) drought. These conditions would remain the same through the end of the month.

Drought, Northern Phillips

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Northern Phillips forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start the month of May, ongoing drought conditions were at (D2-Severe) for all but the far western edge of Northern Phillips County, which was in (D3-Extreme) drought. By the end of the month all of Northern Phillips County had improved to (D2-Severe) conditions.

Drought, Central and Se Phillips

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Central and Se Phillips forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions in the eastern two thirds of Central and Southeast Phillips County were at (D2-Severe) conditions while the western third was in (D3-Extreme) drought. By the end of May the (D2-Severe) conditions expanded a little bit into the northwestern portion of Central and Southeast Phillips County, while most of the western third of the county remained in (D3-Extreme) drought.

Drought, Petroleum

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Petroleum forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 47.118, -108.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions in all of Petroleum County was at (D2-Severe) conditions. These conditions would remain the same through the end of the month.

Drought, Little Rocky Mountains

When: May 1, 12:00 AM MST to May 31, 11:59 PM MST
Where: Little Rocky Mountains forecast zone
Reported by: Drought Monitor
Coordinates: 48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

To start May, ongoing drought conditions in the northwestern third of the Little Rocky Mountains was at (D3-Extreme) drought conditions, while the southeastern two thirds of the Little Rockies were in (D2-Severe) drought. These conditions would remain the same through the end of the month.

What these are

Drought: A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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, May 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: 1024506, 1024509, 1024511, 1024516, 1027106, 1027111, 1027112, 1028603, 1028604, 1028605, 1028608, 1028613, 1028615, 1028616, 1028617, 1028618.