High Wind — Madison River Valley, Montana

2024-02-28 to 2024-02-29 · Madison River Valley, Montana

Event narrative

Mesonet station MTNOR Norris Hill measured three instances of high sustained winds averaging 40 mph or more over at least an hour. The first instance was between 830 AM and 930 AM MST 2/28, the second was between 1230 PM and 130 PM MST 2/28, and the third being between 1230AM and 545 AM MST 2/29. The peak average sustained wind was 41 mph.

Wider weather episode

Southwesterly flow on the order of 50-60kts at 700 mb was mixed to the surface across much of Southwest Montana into portions of North-central Montana on the 29th and into the 1st of March. Additionally, a Pacific cold front ended up mixing strong winds gusts to the surface on the afternoon of the 29th across portions of the plains where strong synoptic wind gusts were not forecast. Only one gust of high wind criteria was measured on March 1.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1156437. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.