Winter Weather — Northern Sweet Grass, Montana

2019-11-05 to 2019-11-06 · Northern Sweet Grass, Montana

Event narrative

Freezing drizzle and black ice were reported across the area. A fatal car crash occurred in Sweet Grass County at about 10:01 am on I-90 west of Big Timber near mile marker 364. The rollover crash occurred after the driver lost control on the icy roadway and entered the center median, rolling once. The driver, a 57-year-old man from Georgia, was not wearing a seat belt and he was ejected from his SUV during the crash.

Wider weather episode

A disturbance within an unstable northwest flow aloft brought mixed precipitation to a large portion of the Billings Forecast Area. Warm temperatures aloft allowed the precipitation to fall in liquid form, but surface temperatures at or slightly below freezing, resulted in the precipitation to freeze upon contact. This resulted in widespread freezing drizzle and freezing rain. As a result, numerous accidents were reported across the area. Over a span of 16 hours, 102 car crashes were reported to the Montana Highway Patrol. The crashes resulted in numerous injuries and resulted in a fatality in Sweet Grass County. Most of the crashes occurred across the Billings, Laurel, Columbus, Big Timber, Red Lodge and Hardin areas.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 863621. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.