Winter Weather — Southern Lewis and Clark, Montana

2019-04-28 · Southern Lewis and Clark, Montana

Event narrative

The Montana Standard Reported the following - Late Sunday morning April 28th, two fishing boats capsized on Upper Holter Lake in Southern Lewis and Clark County. The accident resulted in one fatality and sent five others to the hospital. Winter weather conditions may have played a role in the crash.

Snow with gusty winds over 30 mph were reported in the area that morning.

Wider weather episode

A vigorous mid-level disturbance and attendant surface cold front moved through Montana in a northwest to southeast direction on Sunday April 28th. This brought a several hour period of strong gusty northerly winds and moderate to heavy snow, which combined to produce blizzard conditions across much of North-central Montana. During the peak of the storm, wind gusts as high as 70 mph were reported, causing isolated power outages, motor vehicle accidents and weather related closures on area roadways, and a boating incident possibly attributed to gusty winds. The timing of the cold front passage possibly enhanced the impact of this storm because most of the event occurred before daytime heating was able to warm roadway surface temperatures above freezing.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 810666. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.