Strong zonal to southwesterly flow ahead of a Canadian cold front mixed to the surface across western plains and portions of Central and Southwest Montana. Strong pressure rises behind the Canadian front also resulted in strong winds across the plains of North-central Montana before subsiding on the 26th.
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.
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.
Strong zonal to southwesterly flow ahead of a Canadian cold front mixed to the surface across western plains and portions of Central and Southwest Montana. Strong pressure rises behind the Canadian front also resulted in strong winds across the plains of North-central Montana before subsiding on the 26th.
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 Feb 24, 11:10 PM MST, 1 hour 54 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 1110 PM MST Sat Feb 24 2024 Aviation Section Updated .SYNOPSIS... Above seasonal average temperatures along with periods of strong gusty winds and mountain snow are expected this weekend. A robust cold front brings widespread snowfall and cold temperatures Monday into Tuesday. Temperatures quickly rebound to above seasonal averages Wednesday, while unsettled weather continues through the remainder of the week. && .UPDATE... This evening's forecast update included a decrease in overnight lows, as well as, an increase in maximum Relative Humidity (RH) values. As a result, I reworked the temperature and RH hourly forecast grids. A decrease in wind speeds/gusts was, also, necessary, and some slight adjustments in probability of precipitation and sky condition were, also, needed. - Fogleman && .AVIATION... 1110 PM MST Sat Feb 24 2024 (25/06Z TAF Period) VFR conditions are expected for this TAF period. Lower mid level and high clouds continue to pass throughout the forecast period. Some lower cloud bases along with moderate to heavy mountain snow can cause mountain obscuration. The main concern for this period will be the strong surface winds across the CWA as High Wind Warnings are in place starting at 25/12z along the Rocky Mountain Front/KEKS ,and 25/18z for Central, North Central, and Southwest MT. The strongest surface winds will be along the Rocky Mountain Front, where they can see gusts up to 60kts Sunday evening. Mountain wave turbulence along with low level wind shear will also be a concern for this TAF period as well. -Wilson Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather and hazard information. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 522 PM MST Sat Feb 24 2024/ Northwesterly flow aloft prevails, which has been indicative of the strong gusty winds that have persisted across the Rocky Mountain Front and adjacent plains, as well as portions of the MT Hwy 200 Corridor, where High Wind Warnings remain through the evening. Breezy to gusty winds triumph throughout the weekend, becoming strongest and more widespread by Sunday. The High Wind Watch issued this time yesterday has since been upgraded to a High Wind Warning for all locations where probabilistic guidance depicted at least an 80% chance of 48 knot (55 mph). This resulted in areas across Chouteau, Hill, and northern Blaine counties to get dropped from the initial High Wind Watch, and thus was not upgraded accordingly. That said, probabilistic guidance still depicts a greater than 70% chance of 64 knot (74 mph) wind gusts along the Rocky Mountain Front, extending eastward into the Cut Bank vicinity, with almost a 40% chance. With regards to the latest Winter Weather highlights as a direct result of the significant mountain snowfall due to the enhanced upper-level trough sliding southeastward from the Gulf of Alaska, the advisory along the Rocky Mountain Front (zones 301 and 307) has since been upgraded to a warning. Latest probabilistic guidance depicts a 70% chance of at least 12 inches accumulating over Marias Pass in 24 hours, and a 55% chance of accumulating 18 inches over a 48 hour period, with surrounding locations exceeding substantially more. The Winter Weather Watches for zones 327 and 330 have also been upgraded accordingly to Winter Storm Warnings, valid through 6z Tuesday. With this amount of snow accumulating across US-2, especially over a critical pass like Marias Pass, the ongoing gusty winds pose a potential for blowing and drifting snow, capable of drastically reducing visibility at times. Confidence for "whiteout" conditions remains low, upwards of a 30% chance of occurrence at this time, but some visibility issues of less than half a mile remains greater than 60%, mainly across US-2 in zone 301. - Pierce As the Canadian low pressure system tacks eastwards along the Montana/Canadian border, snow becomes more widespread Monday morning along a robust Canadian cold front moving south through the state. Due to the timing of the cold front Monday, the current Winter Storm Watch for the Southwest MT mountain zones got pushed back to start at 11pm Sunday night. A strong pressure gradient along with a strong temperature gradient sets up along the front. This indicates the potential of some frontogenesis bands to form. This combined with gusty winds could lead to a potential snow squall set up which will continue to be monitored in the coming days. Behind the cold front, temperatures plunge below seasonable averages for Tuesday. Most areas of the CWA will experience Tuesday morning low temperatures in the single digits, with North Central MT and the Hi-Line dropping below freezing. Temperatures struggle to recover Tuesday afternoon, only increasing into the mid teens low 20s. Breezy conditions look to return tp the Rocky Mountain Front and Central MT late Tuesday into Wednesday. This will help rebound temperatures back to above seasonal averages Wednesday afternoon. However, the potential for blowing snow will be monitored along the Rocky Mountain Front before the warm temperatures return that afternoon. After the upper level trough moves exits eastwards Wednesday, slight upper level ridging takes place. However, daily mountain snow persists through the week. Cluster Analysis does come into an agreement of another upper level trough coming through the West Coast next weekend. However, there are uncertainties in the location and timing of this trough. It looks like another unsettling pattern sets in next weekend and into the beginning of next week. -Wilson && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 37 58 39 43 / 0 10 40 60 CTB 27 48 25 29 / 0 20 40 50 HLN 35 54 36 40 / 30 10 70 80 BZN 30 51 36 42 / 20 10 60 100 WYS 21 37 28 33 / 10 40 90 100 DLN 29 52 38 43 / 0 10 60 90 HVR 25 50 31 37 / 20 10 10 10 LWT 33 54 37 43 / 10 10 50 70 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 5 AM MST Sunday for East Glacier Park Region-Southern Rocky Mountain Front. High Wind Warning from 5 AM Sunday to 5 PM MST Monday for Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera-Madison River Valley-Northern High Plains-Southern High Plains. Winter Storm Warning from 5 AM Sunday to 11 PM MST Monday for East Glacier Park Region-Southern Rocky Mountain Front. High Wind Warning from noon Sunday to 5 PM MST Monday for Bears Paw Mountains and Southern Blaine-Beaverhead and Western Madison below 6000ft-Big Belt, Bridger and Castle Mountains-Canyon Ferry Area-Cascade County below 5000ft-Eastern Toole and Liberty- Elkhorn and Boulder Mountains-Gallatin Valley-Gallatin and Madison County Mountains and Centennial Mountains-Gates of the Mountains-Helena Valley-Judith Basin County and Judith Gap- Missouri Headwaters-Northwest Beaverhead County-Ruby Mountains and Southern Beaverhead Mountains-Upper Blackfoot and MacDonald Pass. Winter Weather Advisory from 11 PM Sunday to 5 PM MST Monday for Big Belt, Bridger and Castle Mountains-Elkhorn and Boulder Mountains-Little Belt and Highwood Mountains-Upper Blackfoot and MacDonald Pass. Winter Storm Warning from 11 PM Sunday to 11 PM MST Monday for Gallatin and Madison County Mountains and Centennial Mountains- Northwest Beaverhead County. && http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
14 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Ambient weather equipment 5 WSW of Geyser measured two 62 mph gusts.
Mesonet station MTBRN Two Medicine Bridge (MT DOT) measured two gusts in excess of 60 mph, including a 65 mph gust.
RAWS station TR726 L-C Portable measured a 63 mph gust.
Mesonet station MTBWG Browning (MT DOT) measured a gust of 60 mph.
Mesonet station DELMT Dellwo measured two gusts of 65 mph or greater, including a peak gust of 70 mph.
Ambient weather sensor in Stockett measured a 60 mph gust.
Harkness RAWS HRKM8 measured a gust to 70 mph.
Ambient weather station at LJ Johnson Farm 19 WNW of Santa Rita measured a 73 mph gust.
Mesonet station MTM05 ARC-WTri Conrad measured a 59 mph gust.
Mesonet station GNFHY 10.7 W Emigrant measured multiple gusts in excess of 58 mph, including a 62 mph gust.
Mesonet station MTNOR Norris Hill (MT DOT) measured multiple gusts of 58 mph or greater, including a peak gust of 60 mph.
Mesonet station GW3546 Whitlash 7 S measured two gusts of 58 mph or greater, including a 62 mph gust. Additionally, the sensor had high sustained winds of 41 mph, averaged over an hour, between 7 and 8 AM on the 26th.
Mesonet station MTM53 MDA Oilmont measured a 58 mph gust.
Ambient weather station (Sourdough Ridge) 2 SSE of Bozeman measured a 63 mph wind gust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, February 2024
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: 1153747, 1153744, 1153749, 1153745, 1153753, 1153741, 1153740, 1153743, 1153752, 1153742, 1153751, 1153750, 1153754, 1153759.