High Wind in Western and Central Chouteau County, Montana

Numerous sensors in this zone measured gusts of 58 mph or greater or sustained winds of 40 mph or greater averaged over at least an hour, including Montana mesonet stations Carter N, Big Sandy SW, Highwood Bench, Big Sandy NW, and Frenchman Ridge, AWOS station K79S Fort Benton Airport, mesonet stations MTLOM Loma (MT DOT), GW6710 Meadowlane, GW6518 Big Sandy Airport, and GW3862 Loma 18 NW. The peak observed gust was 85 at Montana Mesonet station Carter N.

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.