High Wind — Fergus County Below 4500ft, Montana

2024-10-04 · Fergus County Below 4500ft, Montana

Event narrative

There were many stations that measured gusts in excess of 58 mph. The highest gust recorded was 78 mph at AWOS station K1DM Delta, 8 miles ENE of Denton. Other sensors that measured gusts of 58 mph or greater include the following: AWOS K1EM Echo 3 miles WSW of Suffolk, AWOS K1MM Mike 5 miles ENE of Moore, Mesonet station MTM42 BLM Roy 11 miles N of Roy, AWOS K1OM Oscar 2 miles E of Roy, RAWS station ARMM8 Armells Creek, AWOS K1NM November 5 miles ENE of Forestgrove, ASOS station KLWT Lewistown Airport, and AWOS station KMVH N Bar Ranch 13 miles SSE of Forestgrove.

Wider weather episode

A robust shortwave shifting eastward from the Pacific Northwest eclipsed the Northern Rockies during the day October 4. At the surface, a surface trough slowly increased in magnitude through the day before ejecting eastward as a surface low late afternoon. As the surface low pulled away, a strong cold front (Aided by 50-70kt winds within the first few thousand feet of the surface) swept across the region. Mechanical mixing allowed for multiple 70+ mph gusts to be realized at the surface, even with the front passing after sunset for most locations.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1209471. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.