Heavy Snow — Beaverhead and Western Madison Below 6000ft, Montana

2023-04-18 to 2023-04-19 · Beaverhead and Western Madison Below 6000ft, Montana

Event narrative

Several reports from the public indicated snow in excess of 8 inches fell in the Dillon area over a relatively short period (Less than 12 hours, generally). A storm total report of 11 inches was received and a report of 10 inches over 5.5 hours was also received (5:30 to 10PM MDT). The COOP station at University of Montana - Western, in Dillon, had an event total amount of 9.5 inches.

Wider weather episode

A pair of upper lows became cut off over southern and eastern Montana extending south and east into the Dakotas and Wyoming from a negatively-tilted trough centered off the Pacific Northwest coastline. This cut-off low spun in place through Thursday the 20th. The result was for significant accumulating snow in eastern portions of North-central Montana, with additional heavy snow across much of the rest of Southwest and Central MT.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1093955. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.