Montana, 2023Avalanche in Montana, April 8, 2023
April 8, 2023 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone
An avalanche occurred near Quake Lake on US highway 287 near mile marker 5. The avalanche closed US 297 for a few hours.
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- 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.
An avalanche occurred near Quake Lake on US highway 287 near mile marker 5. The avalanche closed US 297 for a few hours.
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 Apr 8, 1:15 PM MST, 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 8, 1:15 PM MST, 42 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
215 PM MDT Sat Apr 8 2023
.SYNOPSIS...
A quiet weather day continues through the afternoon and evening
today. Gusty winds across North-Central Montana through the rest of
this weekend. Near to above normal temperatures for Sunday through
Tuesday, with a cooler and unsettled weather pattern for midweek
into next weekend.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Upper level troughing weakened today and upper level ridging
continues to build in across the CWA this afternoon bringing
quiet weather conditions at the surface. Gusty winds along the
Rocky Mountain Front and adjacent Plains region continues this
afternoon, diminishing slightly overnight before picking back up
tomorrow afternoon and evening. A High Wind Watch for the
Northern Rocky Mountain Front has been issued for tomorrow
evening into late Sunday night as latest NBM 4.1 Probabilistic
Data suggests wind gusts over 75 mph have a moderate (between 50
and 75 percent) chance of developing during this time. Surface
high pressure brings mostly clear skies this weekend and near to
above normal temperatures beginning Sunday through Tuesday. Latest
NBM 4.1 Probabilistic Data shows afternoon high temperatures for
Monday range between the high 60s and mid 70s. With these warming
temperatures over the weekend into Monday and overnight low
temperatures are expected to be above freezing, snowmelt will
occur and hydrologic outlooks continue across the CWA with a
Flood Watch for Hill and Blaine County that also includes the Bear
Paw Mountains.
Tuesday is going to be an active weather day across our CWA as an
upper level trough is expected to develop off the Pacific Coast
and move into our region. A strong surface cold front has high
potential to develop. Ahead of this front will be strong gusty
winds, between 45 and 65 mph, mainly for north-south orientated
valleys across Southwest Montana and along the Rocky Mountain
Front. As the front moves through, temperatures have moderate
chances of falling 15 to 30 degrees from the low 60s to 30s.
Precipitation will begin as all rain along the Rocky Mountain
Front and move east across our CWA Tuesday. Then change over to a
mix of rain and snow for valleys and all snow for mountainous
terrain. Snow will continue in the mountains until Wednesday and
chances of precipitation for Wednesday through Friday are
currently moderate (between 50 and 75 percent). After Friday, we
should see another quiet weather pattern begin and a return to
near normal temperatures for next weekend. Webb
&&
.AVIATION...
1137 AM MDT Fri Apr 7 2023 (08/18Z TAF Period)
VFR conditions continue to prevail across all terminals under mid-
to high-level clouds. Surface winds persist generally out of the
west or southwest, and are expected to increase throughout the
afternoon with gusts in excess of 30 knots at times, especially
near KCTB and KGTF. Surface winds will decouple with the loss of
daytime heating, which may cause some brief localized LLWS
issues at some terminals.
Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather
and hazard information.
&&
.HYDROLOGY...
Significant warming of temperatures through early next week may
result in some melting of snowpack, which may increase the risk of
flooding for low lying areas and areas with poor drainage. Although
temperatures are trending warmer this weekend into next week,
subsurface soil temperatures will still be below freezing, which
could exacerbate flooding in low lying areas where the soil is
saturated and or frozen. While flooding is not imminent, now is the
time to prepare for potential flooding for early next week. -AM
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GTF 37 63 46 76 / 0 0 0 0
CTB 34 56 41 66 / 0 0 0 0
HLN 35 64 41 72 / 0 0 0 0
BZN 28 57 32 67 / 0 0 0 0
WYS 20 49 21 59 / 10 0 0 0
DLN 30 54 34 60 / 0 0 0 0
HVR 32 56 41 63 / 0 0 0 0
LWT 34 61 44 70 / 0 0 0 0
&&
.TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
Flood Watch through Wednesday morning for Bears Paw Mountains
and Southern Blaine-Eastern Toole and Liberty-Hill County-
Northern Blaine County-Western and Central Chouteau County.
High Wind Watch from Sunday evening through late Sunday night
for East Glacier Park Region.
&&
http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls
In the hours before
Local storm report, Apr 8, 12:20 PM MST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
120 PM MDT SAT APR 8 2023
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1221 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 8 SE EAST GLACIER PARK 48.36N 113.11W
04/08/2023 M59 MPH GLACIER MT MESONET
MESONET STATION DCRM8 DEEP CREEK RAWS.
&&
MOLDANAvalanche, Gallatin and Madison County Mountains and Centennial Mountains
- When
- April 8, 1:57 PM MST
- Where
- Gallatin and Madison County Mountains and Centennial Mountains forecast zone
- Reported by
- Law Enforcement
- Coordinates
- 45.325, -111.996 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Madison county sheriffs office reports that there is an avalanche blocking the road near mm 5 us highway 287 s, near quake lake. road crews are on scene working to clear the area, highway was closed to thru traffic for about 3 hours.
- Avalanche
- A mass of snow sliding down a mountainside that caused a death, an injury or damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
- Wildfire in Oklahoma, April 8, 2023$19,000 · 1 event
- Flooding in South Dakota, April 8 to 12, 20234 events
- High Wind in Washington, April 8 to 9, 202354 kt wind · 1 event
- Wildfire in Texas, April 8, 20231 event
- Flood in North Carolina, April 8 to 9, 2023$2,000 · 1 event
- Heavy Snow in Alaska, April 8 to 9, 20231 event
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: 1081432.