High Wind — Madison, Montana

2020-12-22 · Madison, Montana

Event narrative

Mesonet station ycams 5.7 w big sky (avalanche).

Wider weather episode

Behind a warm front that pushed through the area on the the 21st, weak easterly flow along with clearing skies resulted in a widespread dense fog developing across the plains of North-Central Montana. This dense fog was mainly an issue during the overnight hours, as strong winds moving in would result in the mixing out of this fog bank.

During the day on Tuesday (the 22nd), a well defined shortwave trough moved through the area, with an attendant surface low pressure system that emerged east of the Rockies in SW Alberta, deepening as it did so. This system would bring a Pacific cold front through the area early in the morning. Behind the cold front, winds would increase and support gusts to 35-45 mph across most of the plains. There was a risk of stronger winds further to the east, and a High Wind Warning was issued for Blaine, Fergus, and Judith Basin counties due to this threat.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 928371. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.