Thunderstorm Wind in Silver Bow County, Montana

An initial thunderstorm produced a 54 MPH wind gust just west of Homestake Pass at 1254MST. This gust resulted in a power outage that lasted until 1930MST. Later, at 1629MST, a 67 MPH wind gust was measured at the Bert Mooney Airport (KBTM). This severe gust was associated with a weak thunderstorm that mixed down stronger winds from aloft, aided by evaporative cooling. The strong winds caused a tree branch to fall onto a car.

A strong cold front, combined with scattered thunderstorms embedded in southwest flow, interacted with an anomalously warm and dry air mass across southwest Montana. High temperatures were in the 80s, creating large dewpoint depressions. High winds aloft, reaching 65 knots between 16,000 and 18,000 feet MSL, were brought to the surface by both convective downdrafts and evaporative cooling, as well as the passing cold front. This synoptic setup led to severe and high wind gusts across the region.