A complex, multi-day weather system moved across the region bringing rounds of wind, snow, and when combined, blizzard conditions. Strong winds aloft brought a round of high winds to the region beginning late on the 11th through the 12th.
Every event with a place to put it; 43 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.
A complex, multi-day weather system moved across the region bringing rounds of wind, snow, and when combined, blizzard conditions. Strong winds aloft brought a round of high winds to the region beginning late on the 11th through the 12th. A low pressure system with a cold front pushed south through the 12th, ending the high wind threat, but bringing a heavy snow threat to the mountains and lower elevations of North-Central MT. The front then stalled, continuing periods of heavy snow through the 14th when gusty winds developed across the I-15 and MT Highway 200 corridor which led to blizzard conditions.
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 Mar 11, 1:40 PM MST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 240 PM MDT Wed Mar 11 2026 .KEY MESSAGES... - A long duration strong wind event impacts areas along the Rocky Mountain Front beginning tonight and expands to all of north-central and southwest Montana Thursday morning. - Snow intensifies along the Continental Divide tonight with moderate to heavy snow and strong winds creating blizzard conditions for a period from late tonight through Thursday morning from Rogers Pass north to Marias Pass. - Winter weather impacts increase across north-central and central Montana Thursday night through Saturday as areas of snow become more widespread. && .DISCUSSION... - Meteorological Overview: A strong westerly mid-upper level jet is approaching the Pacific NW coast this afternoon, sandwiched between a usually deep trough in the Gulf of AK and strong upper level ridging centered off the coast of CA. A fairly robust plume of atmospheric moisture is also embedded within the strong flow, which will produce multiple wind and winter weather impacts as this zone of strong winds and moisture stream across the Northern Rockies and MT over the next several days. Expect the onset of strong winds along the Rocky Mtn Front by midnight tonight before expanding east across the remainder of the area by Thursday morning as the initial wave ejecting out from the Pacific tracks east along the US/Canadian border. Surface low pressure tracks east across southern AB/SK with a WSW-ENE Pacific frontal boundary sagging south through central MT by Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, orographically forced snow already along northern portions of the Continental divide will increase tonight the arrival of the Pacific frontal system and deeper moisture plume. This in tandem with the increasing winds will support an increasing coverage of snow and blowing snow along the divide as far south as MacDonald Pass by late tonight and into the Pintler/Beaverhead Ranges by Thursday morning. Showers tracking east of the continental divide with the initial frontal passage on Saturday will be less numerous but enough enough atmospheric instability will be present for some brief/but intense showers which may begin as rain with a transition to graupel or snow showers. Winds decrease late Thursday through Thursday night as the mid-upper level wind maximum moves off to the east and a secondary Canadian frontal boundary sags south across north-central MT, shifting winds to the north and bringing a cooler airmass southward across the plains. This E-W frontal zone stalls across central MT Friday through Saturday and serves as a focus for precipitation as the Pacific moisture plume continues to stream overhead. Snow within this frontal zone becomes more widespread with greater intensity late Friday through Saturday as an embedded shortwave disturbance moves across the region. The cooler airmass and areas of snow may linger into Sunday before upper level ridging amplifies off the west coast and shifts inland next week, bringing much warmer and drier conditions by the middle of next week. Hoenisch - Forecast Confidence & Scenarios: Strong Wind Hazards: Confidence remains high in a widespread and long duration wind event to impact all of north-central and southwest MT as an unusually strong (80-90kt @700MB) wind maximum streaks across the northern Rockies and MT later tonight through Thursday. Timing of the strongest winds still looks to be late tonight/early Thursday morning for areas immediately adjacent to the Rocky Mtn Front and during the morning hours across most of north-cetral and southwest MT with strong winds lingering into early Thursday afternoon across eastern portions of north-central and southwest MT. Probabilities for gusts in excess of 55 mph are 80-100% for the entire forecast area with a risk for gusts in excess of 75 mph across some areas not typically associated with winds of this magnitude, including a 60- 75% probability from Cascade and Judith Basin counties south through Meagher and Northern Gallatin counties, where timing of the frontal passage and potential for early afternoon mixing will be most favorable to transport higher winds to the surface. We continue to highlight the longer duration of strong winds (6+ hrs of >55mph gusts) as a factor that can increase the risk for wind damage and power outages as has been seen in other recent wind events. Winter Weather Hazards: Blizzard conditions are expected to develop tonight near the continental divide from Glacier NP to as far south as Rogers Pass as the higher intensity snowfall rates and stronger winds develop. Further south along the divide, snowfall amounts decrease, but periods of more intense snow and winds could create localized periods of blowing snow with visibility 1/2 mile or less from MacDonald Pass south through NW Beaverhead county. Areas adjacent to the East Glacier Region and Rocky Mtn front may see some minor snow accumulations as snow showers move off the continental divide following the cold front Thursday morning. The combination of very strong winds (gusts in excess of 70mph), some fresh snowfall and downstream wind transport of snow from areas to the west, could also produce reduced visibility in blowing snow, though not to the extent as areas further west. A Winter Storm Watch continues for much of north-central and central MT for the Thursday night through Saturday afternoon period. Confidence is high in a multi-day period of snowfall affecting these areas with the focus for more impactful snow amounts shifted some towards late Friday into Saturday. Hoenisch && .AVIATION... 11/18z TAF Period Initial concern this TAF period will be for breezy winds through the remainder of the afternoon and early evening before subsiding briefly. Winds aloft will already be increasing this evening as surface winds subside, which will result in at least isolated instances of LLWS. Confidence in this occurring was too low to place in any TAF at this time however. Later this evening and tonight surface winds increase again, becoming strong over the plains and adjacent areas between 6Z and 12Z. These stronger winds spread southward through the morning, remaining gusty through the day. Low-level turbulence will be common as early as 6Z over the plains, spreading to all areas by late morning Thursday. All the while, precipitation along the Continental Divide will obscure mountains through the TAF period, occasionally making inroads further east of the divide. -AM && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 38 48 28 35 / 20 40 70 80 CTB 28 41 20 31 / 50 40 50 50 HLN 37 49 32 44 / 40 60 90 90 BZN 35 54 33 49 / 10 30 70 80 WYS 26 45 31 44 / 50 50 60 80 DLN 34 53 36 54 / 20 30 50 50 HVR 31 45 20 34 / 50 50 60 30 LWT 31 47 23 31 / 20 60 90 80 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... Winter Weather Advisory until 6 PM MDT this evening for East Glacier Park Region-Southern Rocky Mountain Front. Winter Weather Advisory from 3 AM to 3 PM MDT Thursday for Northern High Plains-Southern High Plains. Blizzard Warning from 6 PM this evening to 3 PM MDT Thursday for East Glacier Park Region-Southern Rocky Mountain Front. Winter Storm Warning from 3 PM Thursday to 6 PM MDT Saturday for East Glacier Park Region-Southern Rocky Mountain Front. Winter Storm Watch from Thursday evening through Saturday afternoon for Bears Paw Mountains and Southern Blaine-Cascade County below 5000ft-Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera-Eastern Pondera and Eastern Teton-Eastern Toole and Liberty-Fergus County below 4500ft-Judith Basin County and Judith Gap-Little Belt and Highwood Mountains-Northern High Plains-Snowy and Judith Mountains-Southern High Plains-Western and Central Chouteau County. High Wind Warning from midnight tonight to 6 PM MDT Thursday for Beaverhead and Western Madison below 6000ft-Big Belt, Bridger and Castle Mountains-Canyon Ferry Area-Cascade County below 5000ft-Eastern Pondera and Eastern Teton-Eastern Toole and Liberty-Elkhorn and Boulder Mountains-Gallatin Valley-Gallatin and Madison County Mountains and Centennial Mountains-Gates of the Mountains-Helena Valley-Judith Basin County and Judith Gap- Little Belt and Highwood Mountains-Madison River Valley-Meagher County Valleys-Missouri Headwaters-Northwest Beaverhead County- Ruby Mountains and Southern Beaverhead Mountains-Upper Blackfoot and MacDonald Pass-Western and Central Chouteau County. Winter Storm Warning from 6 PM this evening to noon MDT Friday for Northwest Beaverhead County-Upper Blackfoot and MacDonald Pass. High Wind Warning from 6 PM this evening to 3 PM MDT Thursday for East Glacier Park Region-Eastern Glacier, Western Toole, and Central Pondera-Northern High Plains-Southern High Plains- Southern Rocky Mountain Front. High Wind Warning from 3 AM to 6 PM MDT Thursday for Bears Paw Mountains and Southern Blaine-Fergus County below 4500ft-Hill County-Northern Blaine County-Snowy and Judith Mountains. && http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Great Falls MT
102 PM MDT Wed Mar 11 2026
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1217 PM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 4 W Havre 48.55N 109.77W
03/11/2026 M52 MPH Hill MT ASOS
ASOS station KHVR Havre Airport.
&&
AMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
26 high wind, 9 heavy snow, 7 blizzard, 1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
A trained spotter 4 N of Polaris, measured 8 inches of snow on the 12th. The Mule Creek SNOTEL estimated 14 inches of storm total snow from the 12th through the 14th.
A trained spotter measured a storm total of 9 inches on the 14th. There were a few other heavy snow reports ranging between 9 to 14 inches for storm total.
Crystal Lake SNOTEL measured 10 inches of snow on the 13th. On the afternoon and evening of the 14th, severe driving conditions and required tire chains were reported on Lewistown Divide Pass by the Montana Department of Transportation.
Nevada Ridge SNOTEL measured 9 inches of snow on the 13th. A trained spotter 7SW of Helena also reported 15 inches of snow on the 14th.
Copper Camp SNOTEL measured 13 inches of new snow on the 13th. On the afternoon of the 14th, Rogers Pass was reported to have had severe driving conditions and required tire chains by the Montana Department of Transportation.
Boulder Mountain SNOTEL estimated 10 inches of storm total snow accumulation between the 12th to the 15th.
AWOS station K1AM Alpha measured a 77 mph wind gust and measured an average sustained wind of 45 mph between 1:55 AM and 9:55 AM MST. Numerous weather stations also measured high wind gusts, with a few stations measuring high sustained winds for 5 to 6 hours.
HRKM8 Harkness RAWS also measured a 65 mph wind gust.
Ambient Weather Station Red Barn - KMTGEYSE7 measured an 89 mph wind gust. Numerous weather stations also measured high wind gusts. Mesonet station MTGYS Geyser measured an average sustained wind of 56 mph between 4:33 AM to 9:02 AM MST.
Mesonet station MTNOR Norris Hill measured a 59 mph wind gust and averaged a sustained wind of 40 mph between 1:30am to 2:30am MST.
Mesonet station MTBZH Bozeman Pass measured a 78 mph wind gust and measured an average sustained wind of 50 mph between 11:45am to 12:45am MST. A few other weather stations also measured high wind gusts.
AWOS station K1JM Juliet measured a 58 mph wind gust.
Montana mesonet station Frenchman Ridge measured a 70 mph wind gust. Multiple other weather stations also measured high wind gusts. Mesonet station MTLOM Loma measured an average sustained wind of 47 mph between 4:31 AM and 6:00 AM MST.
Mesonet station MTMON Monarch Canyon measured a 90 mph wind gust and averaged a sustained wind of 44 mph between 3:16 AM and 4:30 AM MST. A Northwest Energy sensor 5 N of Monarch and mesonet station SFJM8 S. Fork Judith RAWS also measured high wind gusts.
Mesonet station DELMT Dellwo (MCSCN) measured a 66 mph wind gust. A few other mesonet stations also measured high wind gusts.
Ambient Weather Station IngerRanch - KMTMONTA17 measured a 74 mph wind gust. Mesonet station DVI02122 Martinsdale also measured high wind gusts.
Showdown Ski Area measured 12 inches of snow on the 14th.
Montana mesonet site Forestgrove N measured an 80 mph wind gust. Numerous weather stations also measured high wind gusts and a few stations measured high sustained winds up to 4 to 6 hours.
Mesonet station MTFPS Flesher Pass measured a 64 mph wind gust. Mesonet station MTMDP MacDonald Pass also measured high wind gusts.
ASOS station KHVR Havre Airport measured a 58 mph wind gust.
Mesonet station AV387 MANHATTAN measured a 64 mph wind gust. ASOS station KBZN Bozeman Yellowstone Airport also measured a high wind gust.
Mesonet station GW4015 Chester Four NE measured a 78 mph wind gust. A few other mesonet stations also measured high wind gusts.
Mesonet station FBLM8 Fort Belknap RAWS measured a 60 mph wind gust. Multiple weather stations also measured high wind gusts.
Montana mesonet station Dog Gun Lake E DOGM8 measured an 80 mph wind gust.
Mesonet station MTSPK Spokane Creek measured a 63 mph wind gust. Mesonet station EKHM8 Elkhorn RAWS also measured high wind gusts.
ASOS station KHLN Helena Airport measured a 68 mph wind gust.
Mesonet station LBCM8 Little Bullwhacker Creek RAWS measured an 59 mph wind gust.
Mesonet station WRSM8 Wise River measured a 67 mph wind gust.
ASOS station KDLN Dillon Airport measured a 63 mph wind gust.
Ambient Weather station Sappington Mill measured a 62 mph wind gust. Ambient Weather station Renova Weather and Hollow Top Ranch also measured a high wind gust.
Ambient station BFlynn measured a 64 mph wind gust.
Mesonet station MTM17 BLM - Virginia City measured a 66 mph wind gust.
An ambient weather station Great divide - KMTLEWIS74 measured an 94 mph wind gust. Mesonet station JPKM8 Judith Peak RAWS measured an 104 mph wind gust. However this station is on an over exposed mountain peak, and may not be the most representative station in the zone.
COOP observer 3 ESE Wolf Creek (Holter Dam) measured 12 inches of total snow on the 14th. The Montana Department of Transportation closed down I-15 around Seiben Flats during the afternoon of the 14th, and also reported zero-visibility due to the snow.
A Trained Spotter measured 6 inches of snow on the 14th. There were a few other heavy snow reports in Helena ranging from 6 to 12 inches.
Blizzard conditions with winds gusting 30 to 50 mph from 9:30am to 3:45pm MST. Severe driving conditions reported by Montana Department of Transportation and webcam images confirmed the blizzard conditions. Highway 287 between Augusta and Choteau also did close down. A COOP observer 4 SSE Bynum measured 15 inches of snow.
ASOS station KCTB Cut Bank Airport. Blizzard conditions began at 10:30am and lasted until 12:45pm MST, with frequent wind gusts between 35 to 45 mph. Montana Department of Transportation reported severe driving conditions on I-15, with emergency travel only enacted between Shelby and the International Border.
Blizzard conditions were observed on DOT cameras with winds gusting 30 to 35 mph from 10:45am to 1:45pm MST. Severe driving conditions were reported by Montana Department of Transportation due to the blizzard conditions.
AWOS station K1HM 6 NNE Fairfield. Blizzard conditions began at 10:56am and ended at 1:156pm MST. Montana Department of Transportation declared emergency travel only on I-15 through Dutton.
ASOS station KGTF Great Falls Airport reported blizzard conditions with winds gusting 35 to 45 mph from 11:50am to 3:50pm MST. Montana Department of Transportation reported severe driving conditions for most of the highways in Cascade County. The NWS Great Falls Office measured a storm total of 10.4 inches of snow.
FAA webcams from the Townsend Airport recorded a quick drop in visibility due to a snow squall.
Blizzard conditions with winds gusting between 30 to 40 mph from 1:30pm MST to 5:45pm MST local time. Widespread severe driving conditions and highway closures on MT Highway 89 between Armington Junction and Stanford reported by Montana Department of Transportation due to the blizzard conditions. a COOP observer in Stanford measured 16.1 inches of 24hr snowfall with a storm total of 25.2 inches.
ASOS KLWT Lewistown Airport reported blizzard conditions with winds gusting 30 to 40 mph between 3:22pm to 6:22pm MST. Montana Department of Transportation reported severe driving conditions along MT Highway 200 through the Lewistown Divide, and on US 191/MT Highway 236 from Lewistown through Winifred. A COOP observer in Grass Ranger reported a 24 hour snow total of 22 inches, with a storm total of 27 inches. Another snow report 2 SE Lewistown reported 22 inches storm total snow.
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, March 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: 1325746, 1325745, 1325749, 1325592, 1325748, 1325744, 1325758, 1326624, 1325765, 1326618, 1326573, 1325755, 1325756, 1325826, 1325754, 1326575, 1325733, 1325780, 1325787, 1325752, 1326620, 1325751, 1325753, 1325750, 1326584, 1326572, 1325757, 1326621, 1326623, 1326617, 1326599, 1326626, 1325838, 1325707, 1325743, 1325532, 1325527, 1325524, 1325538, 1325543, and more.