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MTZ008>015-044>055-311800-
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
805 AM MST MON JAN 28 2019
...December 2018 and Water Year Seasonal Weather Summary for North
Central and Southwest Montana...correction for year
A summary of the calendar year 2018 is under a separate bulletin...
GTFCLAGTF.
#### Temperature ###
Temperatures averaged above normal over much of
the state. The strongest positive departures from normal were across
the northeast. Temperatures were as much as eight degrees above
normal over this area. Some small areas of below normal monthly
averages were over the southwest. The first seven days had
temperatures averaging below normal. Snow fell on the first and
second, with amounts up to six inches in the Great Falls area. A
colder period followed, with the coldest temperatures of the month
from the 5th through 7th. Southwest valleys dropped to near -30F.
Milder and windier conditions prevailed from the 10th through 23rd.
Wind gusts over 70 mph were reported on seven of eleven days from
the 11th to 231st. On the 11th, the highest gust was 84 mph at Deep
Creek. Gusts reached 74 mph at Browning. On the 24th , a transition
to cooler temperatures began. A slight warm-up on the 29th brought
very windy conditions again. A gust of 102 mph at Deep Creek RAWS
was their highest gust since January 2012; the highest non-
thunderstorm gust in the state in 2018; and the highest non-
thunderstorm gust in Montana since November 2015. Snow fell over
much of the area on the 30th. The heavier amounts were in central
Montana, with 8 inches reported at Choteau, 7 inches near Raynesford
and 6 inches at Rocky Boy. Cold conditions on the 31st were
highlighted with wind chills in the -20 to -25F range over portions
of north central Montana.
The areas warmest temperature of 60F was at Fort Belknap on the
15th. The coldest temperature was -29F at Whiskey Creek on the 6th.
The warmest average temperature was 32.5F at Norris Madison, while
the coolest was 12.9F at Yellow Mule. Temperature departures from
normal ranged from +0.3F at Dillon to +7.7F at Havre. The area
average was 24.3F, or 4.1F above normal. This ranked as the 54th
warmest of record.
Cut Bank, Great Falls and Havre all had their warmest December since
2011, while Helena had their warmest since 2004.
The water-year so far has been a near normal. The composite
temperature average is 32.1F, or 1.1F above normal.
#### Precipitation ###
Precipitation amounts were generally below
normal. A small area of above normal precipitation was centered in
the Choteau area north to the border. Badger Pass was the wettest,
recording 4.90-inches of precipitation. St Mary came in with 1.86-
inches, the highest amount at a lower elevation location. The area
average precipitation was 0.39-inches, or 0.49" below normal. This
ranks as the 22nd driest of record, and the wettest since 2002. This
was the driest December since 2000 at West Yellowstone, 2007 at
Helena and 2009 at Bozeman.
West Yellowstone has has their driest water year since 2003. At
Helena it has been driest since 2005, while Great Falls, Lewistown
and Havre have been driest since 2008. The area composite
precipitation for the water year is 2.14-inches, which is 0.52-
inches below normal. This is the 46th driest of record.
Snowfall was similar to precipitation...below normal. The lowest
amounts fell over the valleys of Beaverhead County. Dillon had their
7th lowest December snowfall of record. The area average snowfall
was 8.0-inches, or 4.2" below normal. This is the lowest monthly
average since 2011.
For the water-year-to-date, this has been the 9th snowest at Cut
Bank, but the 10th lightest snowfall at Dillon and Helena. The area
composite snowfall for the water year is 20.2-inches, which is the
17th lowest of record, and lowest since 2008.
### Wind ###
Winds were generally stronger than normal for the month. The highest
average wind speed was 24.6 mph at Deep Creek RAWS, while the
average speed was 21.6 mph at Browning. A peak gust of 102 mph was
recorded at Deep Creek RAWS on the 29th. A location west of Bynum
reported a gust of 86 mph.
The area average wind speed was 9.4-mph, or slightly windier than
normal. This was the 19th windiest December of record. During the
month, Great Falls had seven days with gusts of 50 mph or higher.
This is the highest number of such days in any month since December
1991, when 8 days had gusts of 50 mph or higher. This has been the
10th calmest water-year of record, due to lighter than normal winds
in October and November.
Average Temperature...
DEC NORM OCT-DEC NORM
Bozeman.......22.1..19.0.. 31.7....30.7..
Bozeman MSU...24.4..23.7.. 33.2....34.1..
Cut Bank......26.7..22.2.. 32.8....31.8..
Dillon........21.1..20.8.. 31.3....31.6..
Great Falls...29.4..24.8.. 35.7....34.5..
Havre.........26.8..19.1.. 34.0....31.2..
Helena........28.1..21.8.. 35.4....33.3..
Lewistown.....26.9..23.3.. 33.3....33.0..
W Yellowstone.13.3..10.5.. 24.8....22.3..
CWA...........24.3..20.2..54th warmest 32.1....31.0..56th coolest
Precipitation...
DEC NORM OCT-DEC NORM
Bozeman.......0.16..0.51.. 8th driest 2.25....2.38..
Bozeman MSU...1.00..0.93.. 4.75....3,84..
Cut Bank.....E0.40..0.20.. 1.84....1.00..
Dillon........0.12..0.26.. 0.99....1.34..
Great Falls...0.33..0.55.. 1.68....2.00..
Havre.........0.18..0.40.. 0.97....1.41..
Helena........0.16..0.40.. 0.91....1.57..16th driest
Lewistown.....0.16..0.66..10th driest 2.28....2.50..
W Yellowstone.1.04..2.57.. 3.56....6.15..
CWA...........0.39..0.88..22nd driest 2.14....2.66..46th driest
Snowfall...Inches...
DEC NORM OCT-DEC NORM
Bozeman....... 5.5.. 6.0.. 11.7....13.3...
Bozeman MSU...18.9..14.6.. 45.0....31.7...
Cut Bank...... 8.2.. 5.5.. 26.6....13.0... 9th highest
Dillon........ 0.4.. 4.0.. 7th lowest 3.7....16.1...10th lowest
Great Falls... 5.1.. 9.0.. 17.4....21.2...
Havre......... 1.3.. 7.2.. 3.9....14.5...13th lowest
Helena........ 2.0.. 7.3.. 4.3....14.5...10th lowest
Lewistown.....10.0.. 8.6.. 23.5....16.5...
W Yellowstone.18.4..36.5.. 37.5....67.7...
CWA........... 8.0..12.3..57th lowest 20.2... 36.4...17th lowest
Average Wind Speed...
DEC NORM OCT-DEC NORM
Bozeman.......4.8....4.9.. 4.6.....5.3.. 7th calmest
Cut Bank.....15.4...14.2.. 14.0....13.5..
Dillon....... 8.6... 9.2.. 8.7.....9.1..
Great Falls..14.5...14.6.. 12.7....13.7..
Havre........10.7... 9.5.. 10.4.... 9.2..
Helena........5.9....5.7.. 5.5.....6.2..
Lewistown....10.0...10.3.. 9.1.... 9.9..
W Yellowstone 5.2 5.0
CWA.......... 9.4... 9.2..19th windiest 8.7.....9.1..10th calmest
Temperature and precipitation records for Bozeman began in
1935, Cut Bank began in 1903, Dillon began in 1939, Great Falls
began in 1891, Havre and Helena began in 1880, Lewistown began in
1896, and West Yellowstone began in 1905. Wind records at Bozeman
and Dillon began in 1948, Cut Bank and Lewistown in 1938, Great
Falls in 1939, Havre in 1889, Helena in 1880 and West Yellowstone in
2010. The normal period for all elements is 1981 to 2010.
These data are preliminary and have not undergone final QC by NCEI.
Therefore these data are subject to revision. Final and certified
climate data can be accessed at the National Center for
Environmental Information.
$$
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