High Wind — Eastern Toole and Liberty, Montana

2025-06-21 to 2025-06-22 · Eastern Toole and Liberty, Montana

Event narrative

Montana Mesonet, among many other sites, Mt Lebanon SE measured a criteria gust. The peak gust there was 71 mph. Several sites, including the Sweetgrass DOT site, measured high sustained winds (Average of 40 mph over an hour or more) over this timeframe.

Wider weather episode

Robust troughing moving inland across the Pacific NW began to usher cooler air southward on the 19th into the 20th across northern areas. In the meantime, deep mixing and weak shear with marginal instability managed to produce isolated severe gusts across SW MT on the 19th. Heading into the 20th the instability decreased, but southerly to southwesterly flow increased aloft over SW MT. This resulted in a period of strong winds and gusts, strongest in the Madison River Valley. As the Pacific troughing moved further inland, attention then turned to precipitation, which fell in the mountains as snow Saturday into Sunday (June 20-22). All the while, strong winds/gusts were occurring across portions of the Hi-Line as the cooler air surged southward.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1272717. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.