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

2023-04-18 to 2023-04-19 · Big Belt, Bridger and Castle Mountains, Montana

Event narrative

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.

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 1093970. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.