Montana, 2024

High Wind in Montana, September 26, 2024

September 26, 2024 · NWS TFX · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A cold front introduced a period of strong winds along the Rocky Mountain Front after midnight on the 26th, lasting through noon or so as an additional push of mid level westerly flow allowed the stronger gusts to persist.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
4

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 TFX wrote it up.

A cold front introduced a period of strong winds along the Rocky Mountain Front after midnight on the 26th, lasting through noon or so as an additional push of mid level westerly flow allowed the stronger gusts to persist.

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 Sep 25, 12:58 PM MST, 12 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 25, 12:58 PM MST, 12 hours 29 minutes before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, East Glacier Park Region

When
September 26, 1:27 AM MST
Where
East Glacier Park Region forecast zone
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
48.467, -112.610 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

An Ambient Weather sensor in Babb measured a 63 mph gust.

High Wind, Eastern Toole and Liberty

When
September 26, 2:15 AM MST to 6:50 AM MST
Where
Eastern Toole and Liberty forecast zone
Measured
51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
48.609, -111.360 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Montana mesonet station Mt Lebanon (acemtleb) measured multiple gusts of 58 and 59 mph the morning of September 26.

High Wind, Southern High Plains

When
September 26, 3:15 AM MST to 4:15 AM MST
Where
Southern High Plains forecast zone
Measured
51 kt (59 mph) measured gust
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
47.480, -112.315 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Mesonet station MTBWG Browning DOT measured a gust of 59 mph. Additionally, the sensor measured sustained winds, averaged over an hour, of 40 mph.

High Wind, Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera

When
September 26, 3:38 AM MST
Where
Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera forecast zone
Measured
53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Reported by
ASOS
Coordinates
48.529, -112.306 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

ASOS station KCTB Cut Bank Airport measured a 61 mph gust.

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, September 2024

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1207239, 1211438, 1207241, 1207240.