Montana- Dark, Damaged and Cold After Wednesday Storm

Tens of thousands of people were without power across Montana today, after a punishing, fast-moving cold front swept across the Northwest.

If there's good news, it's that winds were less than some of the forecasts, didn't last as long, and were not as damaging as they were in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

Cold front hit hard

After blasting across Eastern Washington, where some ridgetop wind gusts hit over 140 miles per hour, the front moved across Western Montana, knocking down trees, overturning some trucks, both of which blocked roads and cut power.

     💨 Authorities in the Flathead, Missoula, and other areas were advising people to stay off the roads, as debris and gusting winds were making travel hazardous before noon.

Highest wind gusts

The National Weather Service office in Missoula recorded a highest wind gust of 61 mph. Other, unofficial readings included 67 mph in Kalispell, 49 miles per hour in Plains, 55 mph in Plains, and at the Point 6 radar site above Missoula, one gust hit 89-miles per hour.

The Deep Creek weather station on The Front, which is legendary for high wind readings, recorded one gust of 101 miles per hour with sustained winds still over 40 mph in the evening.

Most other locations across Montana recorded gusts above 60 miles per hour, with a 77 mph gust at Billings Logan International. Harlowton, Livingston, and Bozeman Pass were among the locations hitting well over 80 miles per hour at times.

Major roads impacted

Dozens of locations on the state's major highways say traffic interruptions well into the evening, with lanes blocked by downed trees and power lines, debris, and overturned trucks.

A crash had blocked all lanes of I-15 north of Butte, forcing traffic to detour on the frontage road. It was an example of problems repeated on many of the north-south routes, which remained under "blow over warnings" into the evening.

Power off for thousands

Northwestern Energy line crews had their hands full with outages into the evening. Thousands of customers were still without service, from Thompson Falls on the west to Billings and the HiLine on the east.

Local utilities were still working hard into the night and will likely have to keep working for the next couple of days to restore full power. Flathead Electric Co-op had restored service to more than 9,400 customers by 6 pm, but over 20,000 were still in the dark.

What's next?

With colder weather coming in behind the front, the challenge for the next few days will be a mix of rain and snow in valley locations. Winds will still be gusty Thursday east of the Divide, with sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph Thursday evening and gusts to 45 across Central Montana.

Snow levels will continue to fluctuate the remainder of the week, but heavy snow is possible at pass levels and above.

     ❄️ New snow between now and the first part of next week is likely going to be measured in feet.