Heavy Snow — Cascade County Below 5000ft, Montana

2023-04-18 to 2023-04-20 · Cascade County Below 5000ft, Montana

Event narrative

Many observations of heavy snow were reported, including official NWS observations. Official NWS observations measured 6.5 inches new snow in 12 hours, and 9.3 inches storm total. The peak total was observed by a co-op observer 4 miles ese of Fort Shaw, who measured 13.4 inches over 24 hours ending 7 AM MDT the 19th. The co-op observer located three miles east/southeast of Sand Coulee had an event total amount of 14 inches. Co-op observer located about four miles south of Sun River reported an event total snow amount of 15.7 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 1093960. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.