Upper level troughing diving southeastward from the Gulf of Alaska brought a period of zonal to slightly northwesterly flow aloft to the region January 23. A strong ridgetop inversion allowed for mountain wave activity to develop, which in combination with an increased pressure gradient and cross barrier flow resulted in gusty winds along the Rocky Mountain Front out to Cut Bank.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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.
Upper level troughing diving southeastward from the Gulf of Alaska brought a period of zonal to slightly northwesterly flow aloft to the region January 23. A strong ridgetop inversion allowed for mountain wave activity to develop, which in combination with an increased pressure gradient and cross barrier flow resulted in gusty winds along the Rocky Mountain Front out to Cut Bank.
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 Jan 23, 7:56 AM MST, 59 minutes earlier.
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</html>The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple sensors measured winds and gusts reaching criteria, including Montana mesonet sensor Dog Gun Lake E (Acedoggu), which measured a 76 mph gust.
ASOS station KCTB Cut Bank Airport measured a 60 mph gust. The ASOS also measured high sustained winds averaging 40+ mph over at least an hour. Additional sensors in this zone also measured criteria winds/gusts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2025
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: 1240222, 1240223.