High Wind — East Glacier Park Region, Montana

2025-12-17 · East Glacier Park Region, Montana

Event narrative

Two Ambient stations measured gusts in excess of 60 mph, including ambient station Howards Lodge in Babb and Glacier Park Trading Company in East Glacier Park. The peak gust observed was at Howards Lodge (72 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 1304757. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.