A strong arctic storm system brough gusty northwest winds to many locations across northeast Montana.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 GGW wrote it up.
A strong arctic storm system brough gusty northwest winds to many locations across northeast Montana.
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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 17, 1:38 AM MST, 11 hours 57 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Glasgow MT 138 AM MST Tue Feb 17 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - Blizzard Warning & High Wind Watch this afternoon through Wednesday exist for possible whiteout conditions. - A significant change in the weather pattern begins tonight with below normal arctic temps starting Wednesday and lasting through Friday before a slow rise to near normal early next work week. && .DISCUSSION... WEATHER PATTERN OVERVIEW: A surface low pressure system will form a quasi-lee side trough/frontal boundary oriented from northwest to southeast and drive that east across eastern Montana. This boundary will become the focus of a strong pressure gradient force on both sides pulling the wind in from the east northeast of it and west to northwest on the southwest side. Winds will reach high enough for high wind on both sides this afternoon with a brief drop off as the boundary passes any given point this afternoon into this evening. A line of rain showers is expected to form up along the boundary this afternoon and move east with... then thicken up as it transitions to all snow into the evening. This currently looks like a one and done precip event until it reaches about Valley county where it should swing north and then stall along the international border overnight. And snow that snow that fills in with the high wind areas could easily start whiteout conditions into the night and perhaps somewhat into the morning hours. Currently the big sheeps do not look like they will be impacted long enough and by nearly enough snow to generate the white out conditions, so those counties were determined to be more Winter Weather Advisory level. Much colder Arctic air moves into NE Mont filling in the trough tonight with lows Wednesday night becoming near or below zero again. The Arctic air will remain over the area into Friday and then a very slow warm up to near normal is expected early next work week. FORECAST CONFIDENCE & DEVIATIONS: HIGH confidence in a period of blowing snow with potential whiteout conditions in most of the northern/eastern zones tonight. MODERATE confidence in snow totals for this event. There has been some slow reductions in snow totals 6" to 4" along the international border from run to run which has lowered this confidence in the last 2 updates. HIGH confidence in strong winds (40-50 mph) through Wednesday morning. MODERATE confidence in high winds (55-60 mph) looking at NBM and HREF probabilities. GAH && .AVIATION... LAST UPDATE: 0800Z FLIGHT CAT RANGE: VFR - Airport shutdown. DISCUSSION: VFR ceilings & Vis through roughly 20Z. A strong system moving in will gradually lower ceilings in the late morning and early afternoon with MVFR ceilings settling in across the north around mid-afternoon along with light rain. Incoming cold air will transition rain to snow through the later afternoon and early evening. IFR and then possible LIFR conditions will be possible with any snow once it turns over. Strong to high winds winds could lead to blizzard conditions and possible airport shutdown if only briefly at the KOLF and KGGW terminals. Snow should end at all the TAF terminals with only MVFR ceilings by about 12Z Wednesday. LLWS: There is a chance for low level wind shear at the terminals through 14Z this morning. GAH && .GGW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... High Wind Warning from 11 AM this morning to 5 AM MST Wednesday for Central and Southeast Phillips-Dawson-Garfield-McCone- Petroleum-Prairie-Southwest Phillips. Blizzard Warning from 2 PM this afternoon to 5 PM MST Wednesday for Central and Southern Valley-Daniels-Eastern Roosevelt-McCone- Northern Phillips-Northern Valley-Sheridan-Western Roosevelt. Winter Weather Advisory from 4 PM this afternoon to 6 AM MST Wednesday for Dawson-Prairie-Richland. && weather.gov/glasgow
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Mosby NW (Jitney Road) Montana Climate Office mesonet site (MOBM8) measured a 59 mph wind gust.
The Malta W MDA Montana Climate Office agrimet site (MTM69) measured a 59 mph wind gust.
The BLM Glendive Montana Climate Office agrimet site (MTM28) measured a 64 mph wind gust.
Wind gusts of 58 mph were recorded in multiple locations in Richland County, including the Sidney-Richland airport ASOS site (KSDY).
The Fort Peck Dam Raws site (GGWFP) measured a 59 mph wind gust.
The BLM Terry Montana Climate Office agrimet site (MTM29) measured a 62 mph wind gust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, February 2026
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: 1311515, 1311518, 1311512, 1311516, 1311517, 1311513.