Montana, 2026

High Wind in Montana, January 9, 2026

January 9, 2026 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong and persistent pressure gradient set up along the Rocky Mountain Front during the evening. This allowed for gusty winds to develop, with isolated high sustained winds hitting briefly in Glacier County.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.

A strong and persistent pressure gradient set up along the Rocky Mountain Front during the evening. This allowed for gusty winds to develop, with isolated high sustained winds hitting briefly in Glacier County.

What forecasters said that day

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 9, 4:14 PM MST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 9, 4:14 PM MST, 1 hour 1 minute before
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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Northern High Plains

When
January 9, 5:15 PM MST to 6:15 PM MST
Where
Northern High Plains forecast zone
Measured
43 kt (49 mph) measured sustained
Reported by
Mesonet
Coordinates
48.467, -112.610 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Mesonet site DOGM8 Dog Gun Lake measured an average sustained wind of 50 mph from 5:15 PM to 6:15 PM MST.

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, January 2026

Sources

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: 1304922.