High Wind — Canyon Ferry Area, Montana

2025-12-17 · Canyon Ferry Area, Montana

Event narrative

Several sensors measured sustained winds of 40 mph or greater averaged over at least an hour or gusts of 58 mph or greater, including RAWS station GINM8 Ginger, Montana mesonet station Toston, Agrimet station TOSM 5.5 SW Toston, and mesonet station MTTOS Toston Bridge US-287 (MT DOT). The peak observed gust was at the Ginger RAWS (85 mph).

Wider weather episode

Robust low to mid level flow westerly flow associated with a potent shortwave and attendant cold fronts resulted in a prolonged period of high-end winds and gusts across the entire region Dec 17 into the 18th. Multiple gusts in excess of 90 mph were observed in populated areas, with a peak observed gust of 104 mph west of Bynum. Prolonged power outages were observed across the region, mostly due to trees being damaged/falling over completely. Additional societal impacts included extremely difficult to impossible travel conditions, which prompted a Civil Emergency Message for areas along the Rocky Mountain Front the afternoon of the 17th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1303483. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.