High Wind in West Glacier Region, Montana

The RAWS station at Mount Aeneas (7120 ft) recorded a peak wind gust of 88 mph. Within Glacier National Park, an estimated 10 trees were downed, many of them large Lodgepole Pines with diameters up to 24 inches wide. One of these trees fell onto a parked car at the Lake McDonald Lodge, causing damage. The downed trees also contributed to an 18-hour closure of the Inside North Fork Road and the Quarter Circle Bridge Road leading to Apgar Lookout. The observer at the Thoma Lookout by the Canadian border at 7,112 feet, reported wet snow falling during the early morning hours. Numerous trees were reported on the east side of Swan Lake.

During the late evening of July 14th, a strong backdoor cold front moved into northwest Montana. Combined with a strong pressure gradient that was accentuated by a low-pressure system over Oregon, this front produced a period of intense and damaging downslope winds, particularly along the Mission and Swan mountain ranges. The abrupt wind shift and severe gusts created dangerous conditions across the region.

Thunderstorms with dozens of lightning strikes were also reported across northwest Montana, and many locations saw widespread wetting rains. This meteorological setup was exceptionally rare; you have to go back to the Julys of 1972, 1958, and 1951 to find a similar event.