Winter Storm — Southern Rosebud, Montana

2016-12-25 to 2016-12-26 · Southern Rosebud, Montana

Event narrative

Snowfall of 6 to 9 inches was reported. Highway 212 was closed.

Wider weather episode

A powerful winter storm moved out of the Central Rockies into the central plains on Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day. This low resulted in tight pressure gradients across eastern Montana and the western Dakotas. In addition, the low wrapped abundant moisture out of the Gulf of Mexico north and westward across southeast Montana. As a result, heavy snow fell across Rosebud, Custer, Fallon, Powder River, Carter and portions of Southern Big Horn Counties, as well as Sheridan County in Wyoming. In addition, the tight pressure gradients resulted in very gusty northwest winds which created blizzard conditions across these areas. The following impacts resulted from this major winter storm: I-90 was closed from Sheridan, Wyoming to the South Dakota line on Christmas Day. Periodic road closures occurred across southeast Montana on Highways US212, US12, MT39 and MT59.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 665232. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.