High Wind in Eastern Carbon, Montana

A powerful storm system brought high winds across the entire Billings Forecast Area. High pressure across the Great Basin area combined with a surface low pressure across the Dakotas resulted in very tight pressure gradients across the eastern half of Montana, as well as the northern portions of Wyoming. Sustained winds around 40 mph with gusts over 60 mph were common from the late morning hours through the afternoon. In Billings, a tree briefly knocked out power in a neighborhood while a business sign on Broadwater fell on a van in a parking lot, smashing the windshield. In addition, a semi-truck blew over on Interstate 90 near Greycliff. This was also a record setting day of winds for Billings. The Billings Airport recorded its highest average daily wind speed ever recorded at 33 mph. This broke the previous record of 32 mph set on March 27, 1956.