Heavy Snow in Big Belt, Bridger and Castle Mountains, Montana

Four total SNOTEL sites estimated winter storm warning criteria storm total snowfall. The four are Brackett Creek (20 inches total), Sacajawea (23 inches), Boulder Mountain (10 inches), and Elk Peak (15 inches). Additionally, an automated alpine weather station at Bridger Bowl estimated 25.8 inches total snow.

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.