A fast moving weather disturbance and cold front sprinted eastward along the US/Canada border and brought another round of strong winds to the Rocky Mountain Front and the Plains. The strongest winds occurred during the afternoon hours of May 13, 2022.
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 TFX wrote it up.
A fast moving weather disturbance and cold front sprinted eastward along the US/Canada border and brought another round of strong winds to the Rocky Mountain Front and the Plains. The strongest winds occurred during the afternoon hours of May 13, 2022.
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 May 13, 4:20 AM MST, 3 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 520 AM MDT Fri May 13 2022 ...Aviation Section Updated... .SYNOPSIS... Strong and gusty winds develop over Central and North-central Montana today, with the strongest winds occurring along the Rocky Mountain Front and adjacent plains. Temperatures will warm back into the 60s and 70s through the weekend, trending above normal by Sunday and Monday ahead of a shortwave trough that makes its way over the Northern Rockies, reintroducing below normal temperatures and precipitation back into the forecast. && .DISCUSSION... With the strong closed low responsible for the recent precipitation well east, focus now changes to the negatively-tilted upper-level shortwave trough extending out of British Columbia early Friday. With the junction of the frontal passage from the Pacific, and the closed upper-level low associated with the negatively-tilted shortwave over the Northern Rockies today brings increasing westerly winds for much of the CWA. A High Wind Warning remains in affect for the Rocky Mountain Front, Eastern Glacier, and Toole from 18z Friday lasting through 3z Saturday. Furthermore light precipitation may develop along the Continental Divide, and along the eastern portions of Southwest Montana near West Yellowstone, though accumulations remain minimal. Upper-level ridging builds back over the Continental Divide early Saturday, amplifying through the latter half of the weekend, signifying the initiation of warmer conditions to the CWA. Isolated to scattered showers and possibly even thunderstorms will exist during this time frame despite the persistent upper-level ridge overhead, with the best opportunities to remain across Southwest Montana. Temperatures increase back into the 60s and 70s for most locations through the extended forecast period until the upper-level ridging propagates eastward. This opens the door for a new shortwave trough from the Pacific to make way over the Northern Rockies, reintroducing below seasonal temperatures and precipitation back into the forecast for the entire CWA. In the longer range outlook, CPC has indicated a strong trend of ensemble data from the GEFS and Euro suggesting unseasonably cold temperatures through mid to late May for much of the Northwest CONUS. These trends show a persistent coverages of at least 20% chance of minimum temperatures falling below the 15th percentile, which would mean sub-freezing temperatures would be possible. This coupled with the onset of likely above normal precipitation would be indicative of a late May snow storm, which coincides with long range model guidance. Note, however, that there are no details regarding track or intensity for the late May storm this far out, but definitely something to look into closer to date. - Pierce && .AVIATION... 520 AM MDT Thu May 12 2022 (13/12Z TAF period) VFR conditions continue to prevail across the region under mid- to high-level clouds. Light showers are possible during the morning hours, which may briefly reduce visibility and cloud ceilings to MVFR conditions. Brief periods of fog persist over KHVR this morning as well, reducing visibility to LIFR conditions. Otherwise, gusty winds remain in the forecast, especially for North-central Montana along the Rocky Mountain Front and adjacent plains, which could impact light aircraft through the period. - Pierce Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather and hazard information. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 54 32 62 37 / 10 0 0 0 CTB 49 31 58 36 / 10 0 0 0 HLN 55 35 63 40 / 20 0 20 10 BZN 55 32 59 34 / 30 10 50 20 WYS 49 27 53 27 / 60 10 70 30 DLN 54 32 59 34 / 10 10 40 10 HVR 60 36 65 39 / 20 10 0 0 LWT 54 30 59 36 / 30 0 10 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from noon today to 9 PM MDT this evening Eastern Glacier...Northern Rocky Mountain Front...Southern Rocky Mountain Front...Toole. && http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
550 AM MDT FRI MAY 13 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0549 AM HEAVY RAIN 2 WNW GREAT FALLS 47.52N 111.34W
05/13/2022 M0.63 INCH CASCADE MT TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
PIERCEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
552 AM MDT FRI MAY 13 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1200 PM HEAVY RAIN 2 WNW GREAT FALLS 47.52N 111.34W
05/12/2022 M0.63 INCH CASCADE MT TRAINED SPOTTER
CORRECTS PREVIOUS HEAVY RAIN REPORT FROM 2
WNW GREAT FALLS.
&&
PIERCE5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
MDT Sieben station measured a 50 kt (58 mph) non-thunderstorm wind gust.
Shelby Airport (GW0664) measured a 50 kt (58 mph) non-thunderstorm wind gust.
Dellwo station measured a 52 kt (60 mph) non-thunderstorm wind gust.
MTM02 station (10 S Loma) measured a 51 kt (59 mph) non-thunderstorm wind gust.
KLWT measured a 51 kt (59 mph) non-thunderstorm wind gust.
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, May 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: 1030265, 1030266, 1030262, 1030263, 1030264.