High Wind in Upper Blackfoot and Macdonald Pass, Montana

An Ambient station (Buckskin) barely within the zone measured a gust of 65 mph. Additionally, sustained winds, averged over greater than an hour, of 40 mph at MacDonald Pass MTMDP (MT DOT) between 1130 PM MDT and 1245 AM MDT.

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.