A very powerful jetstream was positioned over the Billings Forecast Area during the afternoon and evening of the 18th. This resulted in high wind gusts across the Billings Forecast Area.
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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 BYZ wrote it up.
A very powerful jetstream was positioned over the Billings Forecast Area during the afternoon and evening of the 18th. This resulted in high wind gusts across the Billings Forecast Area.
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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 18, 4:37 PM MST, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
437 PM MST Wed Dec 18 2024
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Strong and gusty winds will continue through the evening hours.
Expect the strongest gusts in Advisory and Warning areas. Wind
gusts will approach the upper 50s mph in the far east tonight.
- Low to moderate chance for precip in the east tonight, expected
to be a rain to rain/snow mix, very low chance for freezing
rain.
- Above normal temperatures with occasional chances of
precipitation are in the forecast Friday into the middle of next
week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Today through Thursday Night...
A shortwave trough and surface cold front will drop through the
region, this afternoon into the overnight hours. Very strong winds
will continue into the overnight hours as well, for the western
counties as well as Musselshell and southern Yellowstone counties.
The High Wind Warning for Big Timber and Harlowton will continue,
with gusts as high as 75 mph. The High Wind Warning for
Musselshell and southern Yellowstone counties goes into effect at
2 PM, with gusts up to 60 mph possible. Wind Advisory for the
Beartooth Foothills, Livingston, and Nye continues, with observed
gusts in the low 70s mph.
The favorable pressure gradient of between Idaho Falls and
Lewistown has peaked around 18-20mb. The SW-NE orientation of this
gradient has favored strong winds in Livingston and Nye, with the
approaching shortwave, the gradient is shifting to a W-E
orientation which favors Big Timber, Harlowton and the central
counties. Strong 700-500mb winds of 70-100 knots are mixing down
with strong subsidence and have resulted in potential mountain
wave activity atop the Beartooth Plateau, with a gust of 94 mph
observed at the Quad Creek RAWS.
This evening, the cold front will reach the north-eastern
counties, bringing a 15-50% chance for precipitation. There has
been concern with precip type in the east tonight, with a previous
model runs depicting mixed precipitation. Latest models have
largely thrown this out, now showing just rain or rain/snow mix.
The chance for freezing rain is very low, less than 15%. Slick
roads are possible overnight in the east where precipitation
occurs, as temperatures drop below freezing. Along with precip,
strong winds gusting into the 50s mph are forecast. While winds
will approach criteria, I decided to not issue a High Wind Warning
for Fallon and Carter counties, due to lack of confidence in
widespread gusts being observed for an extended duration.
Along with the chance for precip in the east, there is a 25-70%
chance in the Absaroka/Beartooths through the evening hours.
Additional snow accumulations up to 6 inches is possible for the
W-SW facing slopes, including Cooke City. For the rest of the
forecast area, expect less than a 20% chance for precipitation for
the duration of the short term forecast period.
Expect strong winds to diminish from west to east overnight,
giving way to calm and dry conditions, Thursday. High temperatures
range from the upper teens to mid 40s (coldest temperatures in
Fallon County) and the chance for precipitation across the area
will be less than 15%.
Matos
Thursday night through Wednesday...
Main forecast concerns in the long term are on above normal high
temperatures through the weekend, focus then turns to the potential
for a more active weather pattern by the middle of next week.
Ridging with embedded weak shortwaves will be the dominant weather
features through Saturday then our next stronger shortwave is
expected to move over the forecast area Saturday night into Sunday.
This feature looks to bring a shot of snow to the mountains with a
medium chance for rain/snow mix across lower elevations. It will be
rather warm for this time of year with highs climbing into the mid
40s to lower 50s, in fact, the NBM is showing near a 50 percent
chance of exceeding 50 degrees for highs at KBIL Saturday through
Tuesday. A potentially more active weather pattern could set up
across the region by the middle of next week. Half of the WPC
cluster members are showing a trough feature at 500 mb moving into
the western CONUS but there is considerable uncertainty regarding
the depth and timing of the trough. JW
&&
.AVIATION...
The main story continues to be the strong winds. KLVM seems to
have peaked in intensity and we will see the winds slowly back
off with gusts into the 50kt range through 10z. KBIL and areas
nearby will also likely see gusty winds where there is a
possibility that gusts can top 45kts. KMLS and areas in the plains
will pick up in winds after 06z with the strongest gusts out near
the ND border around KBHK. KSHR may be spared from the worst of
the winds are only expected the gusts to get to 25kts right now,
however, if a strong inversion breaks then winds will gust higher
at the surface. In addition to the strong surface winds, wind
shear of 40-50kts 1Kft to 2Kft AGL will be a concern for all
locations in our forecast area excluding the foothills.
Some virga continues to be observed across our forecast area and
there is a slight chance that this precip makes it to the ground
at all locations. Mountains will be partly obscured by this
precip though either way.
WMR
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...
Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 031/043 024/051 032/053 035/050 029/047 030/049 034/048
20/U 00/B 00/B 22/R 01/B 01/B 32/R
LVM 029/047 030/053 033/054 035/046 029/047 030/050 031/045
20/N 00/B 00/U 52/O 02/O 02/R 52/O
HDN 025/039 021/046 025/052 029/049 025/047 026/049 030/048
20/U 00/B 00/B 24/O 01/B 01/B 33/O
MLS 012/022 010/038 020/043 025/041 024/043 026/044 028/043
20/U 00/B 00/B 13/O 00/U 00/U 22/O
4BQ 023/033 017/043 025/050 029/044 026/046 027/049 029/043
20/U 00/B 00/U 13/O 00/U 00/U 23/O
BHK 004/018 001/030 016/040 021/038 021/040 022/042 023/038
40/N 00/E 00/B 02/O 00/U 00/U 12/O
SHR 026/043 020/052 027/057 029/048 023/049 025/052 027/046
20/U 00/B 00/U 13/O 01/B 00/B 34/O
&&
.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...High Wind Warning in effect until 2 AM MST Thursday FOR ZONES
29-34-42-63-141-172-228-235.
Wind Advisory in effect until 2 AM MST Thursday FOR ZONES
65-66.
WY...None.
&&
weather.gov/billingsPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Billings MT
159 PM MST Wed Dec 18 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1030 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 SSE Livingston 45.64N 110.55W
12/18/2024 M78 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTLRH Livingston River Hill.
1120 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 7 ENE Livingston 45.70N 110.43W
12/18/2024 M74 MPH Park MT ASOS
ASOS station KLVM Livingston.
1045 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 WSW Livingston 45.65N 110.60W
12/18/2024 M70 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTLWM 2.0 SW Livingston (MT
DOT).
1235 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 9 N Limestone 45.58N 109.88W
12/18/2024 M67 MPH Sweet Grass MT Mesonet
Mesonet station DBYM8 Derby Mountain.
1015 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 WSW Livingston 45.65N 110.60W
12/18/2024 M65 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTLWM 2.0 SW Livingston (MT
DOT).
1154 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 3 SSE Limestone 45.41N 109.87W
12/18/2024 M65 MPH Stillwater MT Mesonet
Mesonet station CW9088 Nye.
1107 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 9 ESE Chico 45.27N 110.54W
12/18/2024 M62 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station WCRM8 Wicked Creek.
1007 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 9 ESE Chico 45.27N 110.54W
12/18/2024 M60 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station WCRM8 Wicked Creek.
1130 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 3 ENE Livingston 45.69N 110.50W
12/18/2024 M59 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTELV 3.3 E Livingston (MT
DOT).
0100 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 6 S Reed Point 45.61N 109.56W
12/18/2024 M59 MPH Stillwater MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTM67 6.1 S Reed Point
(MT-MESO).
0112 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 17 NE Wilsall 46.16N 110.38W
12/18/2024 M58 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station TT453 Crazy.
0118 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 18 S Fort Smith 45.07N 107.89W
12/18/2024 M55 MPH Big Horn MT Mesonet
Mesonet station BHMM8 Bighorn Mountain.
0130 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Pray 45.35N 110.68W
12/18/2024 M55 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTM86 Emigrant E.
1145 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 SSW Big Timber 45.80N 109.97W
12/18/2024 M52 MPH Sweet Grass MT AWOS
AWOS station K6S0 Big Timber.
1222 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 W Fishtail 45.46N 109.57W
12/18/2024 M52 MPH Stillwater MT Mesonet
Mesonet station FSLM8 Fishtail.
&&Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Billings MT
238 PM MST Wed Dec 18 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0215 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 6 WSW Red Lodge 45.16N 109.36W
12/18/2024 M61 MPH Carbon MT Mesonet
Mesonet station TCTM8 Timbercrest.
0212 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 17 NE Wilsall 46.16N 110.38W
12/18/2024 M60 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station TT453 Crazy.
0145 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Pray 45.35N 110.68W
12/18/2024 M57 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTM86 Emigrant E.
0215 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 SSW Big Timber 45.80N 109.97W
12/18/2024 M52 MPH Sweet Grass MT AWOS
AWOS station K6S0 Big Timber.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds gusted to 59 mph at the Sheridan Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Wyoming in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Wyoming, December 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: 1224041.