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

2025-04-01 · Big Belt, Bridger and Castle Mountains, Montana

Event narrative

Lewis and Clark Emergency manager reported 16 inches new snow above the Horse Gulch burn scar between the evening of March 31 and April 1 at 1145 AM MDT. Additionally, Snotel equipment at Sacajawea and Brackett Creek both estimated 10 inches new snow between 10 PM March 31 and 7 AM April 1.

Wider weather episode

A more convective type of rain/snow transitioned to be more stratiform across the region as several embedded waves within broad cyclonic flow consolidated across the region. Uncertainty was high with this system, closely related to how quickly snow levels fell across the region. Several areas saw snow in excess of 10 inches, including a snotel estimating 17 inches new snow in Jefferson County.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1257636. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.