Strong winds spread across the mountains and into the lower elevations of south-central Montana. Gusts 58 to 75 mph occurred with this event.
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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.
Strong winds spread across the mountains and into the lower elevations of south-central Montana. Gusts 58 to 75 mph occurred with this event.
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 Jan 7, 3:01 AM MST, 7 hours 49 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Billings MT
301 AM MST Wed Jan 7 2026
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Strong winds, gusts 50 to 70 mph, over the western foothills
(Livingston to Nye, Big Timber to Harlowton) into this
afternoon. Crosswinds will make travel difficult.
- Breezy winds, gusts in the 20s to 30s mph, spread across the
plains late this morning through the afternoon. These winds
combined with mostly dry and mild conditions will increase grass
fire concerns.
- Light to moderate snowfall will continue over south and west
slopes of the Absaroka- Beartooth Mountains into Thursday.
- Warm and mostly dry conditions arrive for the weekend into next
week.
&&
.DISCUSSION...
Today through Tuesday...
Over the immediate foothills of the Beartooth and Bighorn
mountains, including Red Lodge and Sheridan, moderate mountain
wave activity is bringing occasional gusts of 25-50 mph (highest
over the Bighorn foothills) this morning. These winds will end by
late morning/early afternoon as upper level winds decrease and a
cold front approaches.
Strong, gusty west to southwest winds will continue along the
western foothills this morning. Along the Livingston to Nye area,
the strongest winds are through mid morning, with a 90% chance of
gusts greater than 60 mph. For Big Timber to Harlowton, a weak
inversion is keeping winds generally lighter early this morning,
however, occasional strong gusts may make it down to the surface
(30% chance of gusts greater than 60 mph). Then, late morning into
early afternoon, there is a window ahead of the incoming cold
front where the inversion breaks and 700 mb winds briefly increase
to around 50 kts, increasing the chance for gusts greater than 60
mph to 50%. Livingston will see less of an impact from this
second round of winds as the approaching cold front will erode
the favorable pressure gradient for gap winds and the 700 mb winds
turn more westerly than is favorable for strong winds near
Livingston.
The cold front moving through late this morning through the
afternoon will push widespread breezy conditions out into the
plains, with gusts in the 20s and 30s mph. A 20-40% chance of
rain/snow showers will accompany the frontal passage. Outside of
the foothills and higher hills over the east, any snow
accumulations will remain light, with a less than 20% chance of
more than 0.1". Over the foothills and higher hills, there is a
10-30% chance of up to 0.5" of snow through early Thursday morning.
With above normal temps, breezy conditions, and lack of recent
precipitation, there is an increased concern for grass fires. Take
care not to cause a spark!
Thursday and Friday remain unsettled, allowing low daily chances
of precipitation (10-40%) over the plains and persistent light to
moderate mountain snowfall, most significant along south and west
facing slopes of the Absaroka/Beartooth mountains. Any snow
accumulations outside of the mountains again remain light. Over
the mountains near Cooke City, there is a 60% chance of at least
another 6" of snow through Friday.
Upper level ridging builds in for the weekend into next week,
bringing warm and mostly dry conditions to the region. There are
some signs of weak disturbances that may bring low chances for
precip across the region and occasionally cooler temperatures
over the east, but uncertainty in the details remains high.
Highs will be in the mid 40s to low 50s (10-20 degrees above
normal) today, decreasing to 30s to low 40s (near normal) for
Thursday and Friday. Then, as the ridge builds in, highs will
increase to mid 40s to low 50s again by Sunday. Archer
.AVIATION...
Strong, gusty west to southwest winds will continue over the
western foothills (KLVM, K6S0, and K3HT) through the morning,
before a cold front passage mid-day ends the strong, gusty wind
threat. With that said, winds have temporarily decreased
around K6S0 and K3HT early this morning as an inversion sets in,
but strong winds will continue a few thousand feet off the ground.
Mountain wave activity including low level wind shear combined
with periods of gusty winds can be expected around KSHR and KRED
into this morning.
The cold front will bring isolated to scattered rain/snow
showers, greatest along the foothills (up to 50% chance) this
afternoon into the evening. Local MVFR conditions can be expected
with the showers. Periods of light to moderate snow will continue
to bring obscurations to the mountains. STP
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...
Tdy Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 051 028/040 025/040 031/049 033/051 033/051 037/055
2/N 32/J 01/B 10/B 00/B 00/B 01/B
LVM 044 024/034 021/035 026/044 027/047 029/048 033/049
5/J 33/J 11/N 00/B 00/B 00/B 11/B
HDN 053 026/040 024/040 027/048 028/052 029/052 033/053
3/W 43/J 12/J 21/B 00/B 00/B 11/B
MLS 048 022/038 023/035 022/039 026/048 030/047 033/050
1/B 01/B 10/B 11/B 00/B 00/B 01/B
4BQ 052 025/038 023/035 023/039 025/049 030/049 033/050
1/B 12/J 21/B 21/B 00/B 00/B 01/B
BHK 049 019/039 018/032 013/031 018/046 025/045 028/046
0/B 01/B 21/B 21/B 00/B 00/U 11/B
SHR 051 019/036 015/035 018/043 023/052 025/050 027/051
4/W 44/J 22/J 22/J 00/B 00/U 11/B
&&
.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...High Wind Warning in effect until 5 PM MST this afternoon FOR
ZONES 63-141-172-228.
Wind Advisory in effect until noon MST today FOR ZONES 65-66.
WY...None.
&&
weather.gov/billingsPreliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Billings MT
516 AM MST Wed Jan 7 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0330 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 SSE Livingston 45.64N 110.55W
01/07/2026 M66 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTLRH Livingston River Hill.
0135 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 9 N Limestone 45.58N 109.88W
01/07/2026 M53 MPH Sweet Grass MT Mesonet
Mesonet station DBYM8 Derby Mountain.
0145 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 WSW Livingston 45.65N 110.60W
01/07/2026 M53 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTLWM 2.0 SW Livingston (MT
DOT).
0501 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 3 ENE Livingston 45.69N 110.50W
01/06/2026 M52 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTELV 3.3 E Livingston (MT
DOT).
0600 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 SSE Roscoe 45.34N 109.49W
01/06/2026 M50 MPH Carbon MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTROH 0.8 SE Roscoe (MT
DOT).
1230 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 2 S Pray 45.35N 110.68W
01/07/2026 M50 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station MTM86 Emigrant E.
0407 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 9 ESE Chico 45.27N 110.54W
01/07/2026 M50 MPH Park MT Mesonet
Mesonet station WCRM8 Wicked Creek.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Judith Gap DOT station gusted to 58 mph.
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, January 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: 1315923.