A strong atmospheric river and associated jet streak moved over the Northern Rockies, with mid-level winds peaking between 50 and 60 knots. Strong, gusty winds caused widespread power outages.
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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 MSO wrote it up.
A strong atmospheric river and associated jet streak moved over the Northern Rockies, with mid-level winds peaking between 50 and 60 knots. Strong, gusty winds caused widespread power outages.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 7, 12:34 PM MST, 5 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
1234 PM MST Sat Mar 7 2026
.DISCUSSION...
KEY MESSAGES:
- Strong to damaging Winds Sunday into Monday, with a 60 to 80
percent chance of widespread gusts over 40 mph in the valleys.
- Active Pattern for the rest of next week/weekend; potential for
more wind and winter weather impacts.
A relatively mild day today will give way to more interesting
weather on Sunday. Radar returns this afternoon indicate continued
scattered showers for west-central Montana and eastern Clearwater
County in Idaho. Focus for precipitation will shift towards the
Glacier Park region tonight. Snow levels will be high, 6000-7000
feet going into Sunday afternoon.
Broad high pressure off the California coast and low pressure
over the Gulf of Alaska will direct the polar jet towards the
Northern Rockies from the northwest. The 100 knot jet will be
over the Idaho Panhandle and western Montana around midday. Model
soundings indicate enough instability to mix the upper level winds
down, resulting in strong southwesterly winds for much of the
Northern Rockies. Most notable areas for high winds will be the
Glacier Park region; along and west of Highway 93 from the north
shore of Flathead Lake through Eureka; and the Bitterroot Valley
west of about Highway 93. Banded snow showers over northwest
Montana will not be out of the question Sunday night.
A depression in the overall northwesterly flow aloft will move
through the Northern Rockies on Monday morning. This system will
bring an associated cold front, dropping snow levels down to
valley floors by about midday. Valley snow amounts will be
minimal, expect little impacts to travel outside of modest snow
over mountain passes.
The low-over-high pressure scenario in the eastern Pacific
persists through the week, keeping the polar jet oscillating
between southern Montana/central Idaho and central British
Columbia. Mountain snow will stay in the forecast for Tuesday as
a more robust depression moves over the Northern Rockies. This
system will favor the Clearwater and northern Bitterroot ranges
early, then shift towards the Glacier Park region later.
On Wednesday afternoon, moisture transport increases under
westerly flow. Wednesday night into Thursday morning will be a
potentially impactful period for winter travel. "Potentially"
because there is considerable uncertainty in snow levels as mid-
and low-level warm air advection occurs overnight. Ensemble
spread for snow amounts remains high late in the week, indicating
a good amount of uncertainty. Regardless, the middle to end of the
coming week will be a period to keep an eye on for winter weather
impacts.
&&
.AVIATION...Wind will be the main impact for area terminals over
the next 48 hours, though there may be some showers that may be a
minor MVFR annoyance for a short while. The chance of a shower
causing MVFR conditions is low enough (below 30%), that it didn't
make it into the TAFs. The strong winds are supported the jet
stream which has 30-50 knot winds at 10,000ft ASL across our
forecast area. These winds are expected to intensify tomorrow
morning. Wind shear and gusty winds will be a challenge for
aviation for the next 2 days.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...Wind Advisory from 11 AM to 11 PM MST Sunday for
Bitterroot/Sapphire Mountains...Butte/Blackfoot Region...
Flathead/Mission Valleys...Kootenai/Cabinet Region...Lower
Clark Fork Region...Missoula/Bitterroot Valleys...
Potomac/Seeley Lake Region.
High Wind Warning from 11 AM to 11 PM MST Sunday for West
Glacier Region.
ID...None.
&&The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
About 400 people were without power along Highway 2.
There were 328 without power in the Troy area and Montana Department of Transportation reported a tree blocking part of US-2 north of Troy. There were 159 without power due to a tree on a power line in the Ashley Lake area. There were 48 without power north of Libby.
Over 160 people in the Lakeside to Angel Point area of Flathead Lake were without power. A tree was reported in the power line at Angel Point.
MacDonald Pass recorded a wind gust of 57 mph, while Deer Lodge saw a gust to 48 mph. A power outage impacting over 51 customers was reported in Hall.
Strong winds with gusts to 57 mph were recorded between Lolo and Hamilton. There was an unconfirmed report of a gust to 72 mph between Blodgett Canyon and US-93 with damage to a greenhouse. A large Ponderosa pine tree fell onto a garage located one mile north of Pinesdale. On top of Mount Sentinel at 5,000 feet MSL, wind gusts reached 62 mph at 1345MST. A flipped trailer was reported south of Florence.
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: 1316195, 1316194, 1317373, 1317397, 1317387.