A strong jet stream was over the area. Some of these winds descended to the surface producing some strong wind gusts along the Sheridan Foothills.
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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 strong jet stream was over the area. Some of these winds descended to the surface producing some strong wind gusts along the Sheridan Foothills.
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 Feb 26, 3:30 AM MST, 54 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
330 AM MST Mon Feb 26 2024
.DISCUSSION...
Today through Tuesday Night...
Satellite imagery showed a defined signature of lee side
downsloping across our foothills early this morning as strong
westerly mid level flow prevailed over the region.
Winds had been edging upward overnight. As of 2 am some peak gusts
included 67 mph at Livingston, 71 mph in the Crazy Mtns, 60 mph
near Harlowton, 64 mph near Fishtail, 64 mph at Bighorn Mtn and 54
mph at Sheridan. Big Timber was gusting near 50 mph as 700 mb
winds had not yet peaked in its area, but should just before
sunrise. Gusts 60-70 mph are still on the table for the foothills,
with gusts 70+ mph in the mountains. Progged soundings still show
a risk of mountain wave activity near Red Lodge and Sheridan
through morning. Keep in mind mountain waves producing local
damaging winds often occur just ahead of fronts.
All wind highlights remain valid until 5 pm... no changes
have been made. However, we expect some of these wind highlights
may be ended early after the expected cold front moves through
their area.
Turning our attention to the cold front...latest model data
indicates frontal passage at Roundup after 11 AM, Livingston
around 1-2 PM, Billings around 2-3 PM, Sheridan around 6 PM. We
will see temps still pretty mild yet today as most locations
still manage to warm into the upper 40s and 50s ahead of the front
thanks to downslope and prefrontal warming. As a matter of fact,
some areas like Billings may see some brief strong west winds to
45 mph or so thanks to mixing just ahead of the approaching
front. Behind the front 850mb temps drop below zero quickly. We
remain concerned about a flash freeze scenario where wet or slushy
roads suddenly freeze catching motorists by surprise. Models show
road temps dropping below freezing by 7 pm...and these can tend
to be to conservative (late) for these type of cold fronts.
Therefore, we will continue to message impacts for the evening
commute for many areas.
Cross sections indicate strong frontogenesis coupled with steep
lapse rates through the dendritic zone behind the front. This
should make for very efficient snow production this evening for
locations behind the front. Precipitation may briefly fall as rain
before turning to snow. The powerful forcing behind the front
will be short-lived, but winds will turn northeasterly and deepen
with good upslope developing in the evening. Snowfall therefore is
expected to be heaviest in the areas along and south of I-90
where gusty north to northeast winds will upslope into area
mountains.
Probabilities for more than 3 inches or more ranges from 60%
near Billings to 100% southward in the foothills. Probabilities
for more than 6 inches ranges from 60% in the foothills to 100%
in the mountains. The main limiting factor for snowfall is the
speed of the system. Much of the forcing will have slid south and
east by Tuesday morning, and upslope will be weakening as well. We
may see some lingering light snow showers over the western zones
and mountains Tuesday as unstable cyclonic flow resides over our
area, but most areas will not see much additional snow beyond
early Tuesday morning. Temps on Tuesday will be much colder with
highs in the teens and 20s.
Winter Storm Warnings for the foothills and mountains remain
unchanged, as do the winter weather advisories for nearby lower
elevations.
We do need to mention the cold air will retreat quickly Tuesday
night into Wednesday setting the stage for an increasing pressure
gradient across the foothills and Paradise Valley, This could lead
to blowing snow issues in the foothills including I-90 near
Livingston. This will need to be monitored closely as significant
travel impacts may occur between midnight Tuesday evening and
noon on Wednesday. BT
Wednesday through Monday...
While overnight lows Tuesday night are forecast to be in the
single digits to low teens, southwesterly downslope winds will
develop early Wednesday morning allowing temperatures to quickly
warm back up. By midday, forecast high temperatures are back into
the upper 30s to mid 40s and the snow melt will be on. One thing
to note, areas with fresh snow cover may stay a few degrees cooler
Wednesday with the reflective snow in place. Otherwise, Wednesday
looks to be a breezy day as well. A favorable setup for strong
gap winds through Livingston will be in place and increased 700mb
winds will allow breezy, 20-40 mph winds around and west of
Billings. With these winds, blowing and drifting snow is a concern
for Wednesday where fresh snow is in place, especially along the
foothills, before the snow begins to melt later in the day.
The warming trend will continue Thursday as highs warm into the
upper 40s and 50s across the region. While Thursday looks breezy
again, winds should be less than Wednesday and the snow should be
crusted over to limit/end the blowing snow threat.
For Friday through the weekend, a pattern change to cooler and
wetter is possible. At this time, a lot of uncertainty remains,
but cluster analysis does show confidence in a large, broad upper
trough moving in to the west coast. What happens with the trough
as it moves inland is where the uncertain remains. If the trough
remains broad, we will see less impacts here. If the trough
becomes more defined or develops into a low, we could see more
significant impacts. These details will be ironed out as we
progress through the week. Arends
&&
.AVIATION...
Strong winds (45 to 60 kts) are expected to continue into the
morning hours along the foothills, strongest at KLVM. For
locations around KSHR and KRED, the strongest wind gusts are
expect to be erratic. These strong winds will quickly subside as a
cold front drops through the region mid-day, turning winds
quickly out of the north at 20-30 kts. This front will bring rain
transitioning quickly over to snow to the area mid-day through the
overnight hours. The snow will be heavy at times for KBIL, KSHR,
and KLVM, so periods of IFF to LIFR conditions are likely with
reduced visibilities. While the snow will taper off overnight over
the plains, mountain obscurations will continue into Tuesday.
Arends
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...
Tdy Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 055 008/022 013/044 033/057 036/052 028/045 023/036
8/O +1/E 00/N 00/N 25/R 55/O 65/S
LVM 049 013/028 016/043 031/051 036/046 026/040 019/034
+/O +4/S 00/Q 01/N 57/O 66/S 65/S
HDN 057 006/022 010/046 027/059 031/056 025/050 021/036
8/R +2/S 00/U 00/B 03/R 44/O 55/S
MLS 051 004/016 009/044 027/059 033/051 025/042 020/031
6/R 41/B 00/U 00/U 01/B 22/O 34/S
4BQ 060 007/019 009/044 025/059 036/059 029/055 024/039
2/R 91/B 00/U 00/U 00/B 11/B 34/S
BHK 054 000/015 004/041 024/057 031/053 022/044 019/033
2/R 61/B 00/U 00/U 00/B 21/E 33/S
SHR 057 005/021 005/043 022/054 031/056 026/052 022/036
3/R +4/S 00/U 00/B 02/R 33/O 45/S
&&
.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 5 PM this afternoon to
noon MST Tuesday FOR ZONES
29-30-34-36-40-42-57-58-63>65-139-141-170-172-173-228-235.
High Wind Warning in effect until 9 AM MST this morning FOR
ZONES 56-138-169-171.
Winter Storm Warning in effect from 3 PM this afternoon to 5
PM MST Tuesday FOR ZONES 56-66.
High Wind Warning in effect until 5 PM MST this afternoon FOR
ZONES 63-67-68-141-172-228.
Wind Advisory in effect until 5 PM MST this afternoon FOR
ZONES 65-66.
Winter Storm Warning in effect from noon today to 5 PM MST
Tuesday FOR ZONES 67-68.
Winter Storm Warning in effect from 5 PM this afternoon to 5
PM MST Tuesday FOR ZONES 138-169.
Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 3 PM this afternoon to
5 PM MST Tuesday FOR ZONE 171.
WY...High Wind Warning in effect until 9 AM MST this morning FOR
ZONES 198-199.
Winter Storm Warning in effect from 5 PM this afternoon to 5
PM MST Tuesday FOR ZONE 199.
Winter Weather Advisory in effect from 3 PM this afternoon to
5 PM MST Tuesday FOR ZONE 198.
&&
weather.gov/billingsPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Billings, MT
135 AM MST Mon Feb 26 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1200 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 WSW Livingston 45.65N 110.60W
02/26/2024 M54.00 MPH Park MT Dept of Highways
1218 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 17 S Fort Smith 45.07N 107.89W
02/26/2024 M63.00 MPH Big Horn MT Mesonet
1240 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 6 ENE Livingston 45.70N 110.45W
02/26/2024 M68.00 MPH Park MT ASOS
1245 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 3 ENE Livingston 45.69N 110.50W
02/26/2024 M63.00 MPH Park MT Dept of Highways
1247 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 SSW Sheridan 44.77N 106.97W
02/26/2024 M54.00 MPH Sheridan WY ASOS
&&
LAThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Winds gusted from 59 to 61 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, 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: 1158085.