Winter Storm — Crazy Mountains, Montana

2021-10-11 to 2021-10-12 · Crazy Mountains, Montana

Event narrative

South Fork Shields Snotel reported 10 inches of snow and Melville reported 12 inches.

Wider weather episode

The seasons first snow occurred during the second week of October. A surface low moved northeast out of the Four Corners region across Wyoming into the northern high plains. This allowed cold air to move south out of Canada while drawing moisture northward from the Gulf of Mexico. However, most of the cold air was due to dynamic cooling as a result of this powerful low. Heavy snow occurred across the entire Billings Forecast Area with the heaviest occurring across southeast Montana close to the Dakota and Wyoming borders. In addition, very strong northwest winds on the back side of the low resulted in significant blowing and drifting snow across southeast Montana.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 986189. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.