High Wind in Northern High Plains, Montana

Montana Mesonet site Dog Gun Lake reported a 77mph wind gust. Mesonet station MTBRN Two Medicine Bridge (MT DOT), and Mesonet station MTBWG Browning (MT DOT) reported high winds. Further, Montana mesonet station Dupuyer N measured sustained winds, averaged over an hour, of 40 mph.

An upper level ridge across the Northern Rockies was flattened by a potent shortwave over Dec 6-8 timeframe. Initially stout zonal mid-level flow was aided by a strengthening pressure gradient to result in quite a few strong winds gusts over the multi-day period. Adequate moistures resulted in locally heavy snow along the Rocky Mountain Front and into Central Montana by Dec 9.