Public Information Statement National Weather Service Billings MT 922 PM MST Mon Dec 26 2016 ...2016 Weather in Review... The following is a weather review for the Billings forecast area, which includes southeast Montana, parts of south central Montana and Sheridan County, Wyoming. 2016 was a very warm year across the region, and in fact, a top 10 warmest year on record at each of our official climate stations located at Billings, Livingston, Miles City and Sheridan. Above normal temperatures persisted for much of 2016, but the months that contributed most to our very warm year were February, March, June and November. Warm and dry conditions from late winter to early summer resulted in an earlier than normal mountain snow melt, and escalated drought conditions. During the summer months, river flows and soil moisture were well below normal, and fishing restrictions were enacted. Weather turned wetter by fall and drought conditions improved. After a mild and dry November, winter returned with a vengeance in December with cold temperatures and above normal snowfall. Despite the warm summer, Billings failed to reach 100 degrees for the 3rd time in the past four years. Severe weather was most frequent in Fallon County, including an EF-3 tornado that caused significant damage in Baker on June 11th. Billings experienced a damaging hail storm on May 21st. In mid December, a remarkable snowstorm dumped almost two feet of snow in Big Timber and 17 inches at Billings. Following this storm and a day of bitter cold, chinook winds kicked in, and ground blizzard conditions occurred along the western foothills. As a result, a significant portion of I-90 was closed for about 27 hours. Several new records were established across the region during the course of the year. The following is a list of daily records either tied or broken at our four main climate sites. Records go back to 1934 at Billings, 1948 at Livingston, 1937 at Miles City and 1907 at Sheridan. ...BILLINGS... Record High Temps: 64 on February 18 71 on March 5 71 on March 6 86 on May 5 96 on June 9 96 on June 18 98 on June 21 Record Low Temps: None Record Precipitation: 0.38 inches on April 14 0.21 inches on July 28 0.65 inches on August 6 0.37 inches on August 18 0.64 inches on August 19 1.86 inches on October 3 0.66 inches on December 15 Record Snowfall: 11.0 inches on December 15 ...LIVINGSTON... Record High Temps: 62 on February 10 61 on February 12 59 on February 18 74 on April 12 92 on June 10 92 on June 18 96 on June 23 100 on July 22 97 on July 25 98 on August 2 95 on August 17 72 on November 9 Record Low Temps: 34 on June 20 -27 on December 17 Record Precipitation: 0.31 inches on March 22 0.70 inches on May 9 0.34 inches on October 10 ...MILES CITY... Record High Temps: 69 on February 18 63 on February 26 74 on March 5 74 on March 6 71 on March 10 73 on November 9 68 on November 11 Record Low Temps: None Record Precipitation: 0.11 inches on February 13 2.91 inches on April 24 0.72 inches on September 4 1.32 inches on September 24 ...SHERIDAN... Record High Temps: 62 on January 28 66 on February 26 74 on March 5 73 on March 6 96 on June 9 98 on June 18 104 on June 21 101 on August 2 73 on November 9 Record Low Temps: 15 on October 12 Record Precipitation: 0.46 inches on February 15 1.71 inches on April 24 0.58 inches on August 7 0.43 inches on September 12 2.19 inches on September 24 0.84 inches on November 17 0.30 inches on December 16 The following is a chronological list of significant or noteworthy weather events that occurred across the region in 2016. January 11-13: A windy period along the foothills. Livingston gusted over 58 mph frequently. January 16-18: Periods of snow impacted the region, with most locations receiving 2 to 5 inches over the 3-day period. A few higher amounts: Klein and Dayton 8 inches, Reed Point 7 inches, Sheridan 6 inches. January 28: Strong winds at Livingston with a peak gust of 72 mph. February 1-2: Weak weather system produced 5 to 7 inches of snow near Dayton and Sheridan, and 3 to 5 inches around Red Lodge. February 6-7: Strong winds were felt across the region. Peak gusts included: Livingston 79 mph, Big Timber 71 mph, Roundup 70 mph, Baker/Judith Gap/Harlowton 68 mph, Miles City 62 mph, Billings 58 mph. February 13: Cold front with some showers produced locally strong wind gusts across the area. Peak gusts included: Sheridan 68 mph, Ranchester 67 mph, Molt 63 mph, Ridgeway 58 mph, Billings 56 mph. February 14: Billings received 0.1 inches of snow, ending a streak of 24 days without measurable snow. February 18-19: Strong winds occurred across the region, with gusts over 50 mph for many locations. Peak gusts included: Melville 70 mph, Livingston 61 mph, Sheridan 60 mph, Harlowton/Miles City/Baker 59 mph, Bull Mountain Divide 58 mph. February 1-29: With only 0.2 inches, Billings set a record for lowest February snowfall. Billings also tied for warmest February on record. Miles City was warmest on record. Livingston and Sheridan were 2nd and 3rd warmest, respectively. March 5-6: Two very warm days, with several record high temperatures set around the area. Billings hit 71 degrees each day, Sheridan 74 and 73, Miles City 74 each day. The 74 at Miles City on the 5th was also a record high so early in the year. March 22-23: Snow impacted mainly the western foothills. Amounts included: Story 8 inches, Red Lodge 3-6 inches, McLeod 5 inches, Fort Smith and Livingston 4 inches. March 28-30: A mix of rain and snow brought much needed precipitation to the area. Billings and Sheridan received about an inch of precipitation. Snowfall was heaviest on the north slopes of the mountains. Snow amounts included: Red Lodge 8 inches (14 inches in the nearby mountains), Story 10 inches (up to 18 inches in the Bighorn Mountains), McLeod 3 inches. March 31: Snow impacted the north slopes of the mountains. Red Lodge picked up 8 inches (with 13 inches over the nearby mountains), Burgess Junction 8 inches, Story 3 inches. April 18-19: A storm system brought abundant rainfall to southeast Montana and northern Wyoming. Sheridan and Broadus each received about an inch and a half of rain, with just under 2 inches at Ridge. Up to 2 inches of precipitation also fell in the Bighorn Mountains. Snow accumulated along the foothills and over some of the higher hills of southeast Montana. A foot of snow fell 10 miles southeast of Broadus, with 9 inches at Ridge, 5 inches at Story, 4 inches at Red Lodge. April 23-24: Another storm system brought widespread precipitation. An inch or more of rain fell near Livingston, Big Timber and Fishtail, but the larger amounts occurred east of Billings. In Miles City, a thunderstorm during the middle of the night produced over two inches of rain in a little more than an hour, which along with small hail caused some street flooding. Miles City received a total of 2.91 inches on the 24th, establishing a new all-time daily precipitation record (for any time of year). Sheridan's 1.71 inches on the 24th was a record for the day. Some foothills locations and higher hills received accumulating snowfall. Story picked up 5 inches of snow, 5 inches fell a little north of Roundup, 4 inches near Melstone, Hardin 2 inches. April 27-28: More rain and snow affected much of the region. Many locations received 1 to 2 inches of wet snow, with a bit more along the foothills and over the higher hills. May 9-10: Rain and snow impacted the region, with some areas receiving over an inch of rainfall, and mountains/foothills seeing accumulating snowfall. Locations near Hysham and Forsyth received over two inches of rain. Up to 17 inches of snow fell in the Crazy Mountains, with 5-10 inches in the Beartooth/Absaroka and Bighorn Mountains. One to two inches of snow fell along the foothills. May 21: The first severe weather of the season, impacting Stillwater, Yellowstone, Musselshell, Treasure and Sheridan Counties. Most widespread damage occurred in the Billings metro area with very large hail (up to 2 inch diameter) and strong winds (peak gust of 66 mph at the airport). Largest hail occurred in west Billings and near Shepherd. Many cars and homes were damaged by wind- driven hail. Significant straight-line wind damage occurred north of Hysham. It was estimated that 50 trees were either uprooted or snapped, a mobile home was pushed off its blocks, a small garage was destroyed. Finally, an EF-1 tornado touched down about 16 miles north of Pompey's Pillar. It was about 150 yards wide with a path length of two miles. An estimated 100 pine trees were either snapped or uprooted with a couple power poles also downed. June 9: Severe weather impacted much of the region, including: 70 mph wind gusts near Baker (with some siding damage), half dollar size hail near Pompey's Pillar, golf ball sized hail near Delphia, 60 mph wind gust near Sheridan, a truck was blown over at the WY point of entry station on I-90 near Ranchester, quarter size hail at Roundup, 58 mph wind gust at the Billings airport. June 11: An EF-3 tornado struck the east side of Baker during the early evening, causing significant damage to several homes (10 homes were destroyed, 30 additional homes sustained damage). The most severe damage occurred in about a square block area, in a subdivision just northeast of Baker Lake. Peak winds were estimated at 136-165 mph. Other damage included: a steel-framed barn and three RVs were destroyed, several horses killed. Other severe weather occurred on this day, including: estimated 70-80 mph winds and quarter size hail southeast of Miles City, golf ball sized hail and broken windows northeast of Miles City, 2-inch hail at Tusler, 65 mph wind gusts and a flipped snowmobile trailer near Moorhead. June 13: A thunderstorm produced up to nickel size hail in Laurel and Billings, which accumulated in some areas. Quarter siZe hail occurred in Hardin and Colstrip, and golf ball size hail broke some windows north of Colstrip. June 17: A thunderstorm produced pea size hail and wind that blew shingles off a roof at around midnight just northeast of Baker. A short time later, half dollar size (1.25 inch diameter) hail caused window damage to homes in Ollie. A peak wind gust of 62 mph was observed northeast of Baker at 12:12 am. June 24: A cold frontal passage produced a peak wind gust of 60 mph at Sheridan. June 28: A severe thunderstorm produced up to golf ball size hail near Ekalaka. July 3: A severe thunderstorm produced a 64 mph wind gust at the Livingston airport. July 4: A severe thunderstorm produced a 68 mph wind gust at the Sheridan airport just after midnight. July 6: A brief tornado touched down near Webster...no damage was reported. Elsewhere, a peak gust of 75 mph was observed at the Baker airport. A semi-truck was blown off I-94 near Kinsey (NE of Miles City) due to strong thunderstorm winds. A pickup truck with a trailer was blown over near Bonfield (also NE of Miles City). July 10: A severe thunderstorm produced up to golf ball size hail near Plevna, breaking windows in a home and stripping trees of leaves. Also, up to two inch hail and 65 mph wind gusts occurred near Baker, and a brief EF-0 tornado occurred. Wind-driven hail broke out windows of several homes on the west wide of Baker. July 15: A severe thunderstorm produced 50-60 mph wind gusts from Molt to Billings during the evening. July 16: A severe thunderstorm produced up to two inch diameter hail in Parkman, WY. Quarter size hail occurred in Big Timber. July 22: A severe thunderstorm produced 1.25 inch hail near Ismay. July 27: Severe thunderstorms produced large hail: 1.25 inch diameter near Roundup, 2.75 inch (baseball size) at Pompey's Pillar, up to golf ball size near Billings, 1.5 inch at Hysham, 2.5 inch near Colstrip, golf ball size near Volborg. July 30: A severe thunderstorm produced a 61 mph wind gust at the Livingston airport. July 31: A severe thunderstorm produced 50+ mph wind gusts across the Billings area, with a peak of 62 mph near Lockwood. August 2: A severe thunderstorm produced quarter size hail near Ekalaka. August 6: A severe thunderstorm produced a 70 mph wind gust 11 miles southeast of Huntley, at Arrow Creek Hill on I-90. August 7: A severe thunderstorm produced quarter size hail at Wyola, with small branches downed due to gusty winds. Further south, a 60 mph wind gust was reported near Sheridan. To the east, 60-63 mph gusts were reported near Colstrip and Birney. August 9: A severe thunderstorm produced VERY large hail (up to 4 inch diameter) near Ridgeway. A funnel cloud was also reported. Up to golf ball size hail occurred in Broadus. August 14: A severe thunderstorm produced a 70 mph wind gust at the Baker airport. August 18-19: A weather system brought widespread rainfall, with much of the region receiving between 0.50 and 1.50 inches. Dayton received 2.40 inches of rain. September 4-5: A weather system brought widespread rainfall, with 1- 2 inches across much of northern and eastern parts of the region. Around 2 inches of rain fell northeast of Roundup and near Ismay. September 12-13: A weather system brought 0.50 to 1.50 inches of rain to western and central areas. Heavy snow fell over the Beartooth Absarokas with up to 11 inches in the mountains around Cooke City and Red Lodge. The town of Red Lodge itself picked up a couple inches of wet snowfall (their first snow of the season). September 22-24: A weather system brought 1-3 inches of rain to many areas east of Billings. Sheridan County received the heaviest precipitation, with over 4 inches of rain falling at Story, and over 3 inches at Sheridan. The Bighorn Mountains received heavy snowfall, up to 15 inches. On the 24th, Sheridan (2.19 inches) and Miles City (1.32 inches) each set daily precipitation records. October 2-4: A slow-moving weather system brought widespread rainfall, heaviest from Big Horn, WY to northwestern Rosebud County. Hardin picked up over 3 inches of rain, and experienced urban flooding with a thunderstorm on the 2nd. Ingomar 11NE measured total rainfall of 3.67 inches. Other totals included: Billings airport 2.58 inches, Hysham 8W 3.11 inches, Klein 5SE 2.51 inches. On the 3rd, Billings received 1.86 inches of rain, a daily record (and the 2nd wettest October day on record). October 10-11: Much of the region experienced it's first snowfall of the season. Snow was heaviest in an area from near Livingston and Big Timber to Roundup and the Bull Mountains (9-13 inches). Southeast MT received little or no snowfall with this system. On the 10th, Livingston's 0.34 inches of precipitation was a daily record. On the 11th, Sheridan's low temp of 15 was a daily record low, and Livingston dropped to a chilly 7 above. It was the first widespread hard freeze of the season on the morning of the 11th. October 14: Gusty winds occurred along the foothills. Peak gusts included: 71 mph at Livingston, 70 mph south of Big Timber, 64 mph at Judith Gap, 63 mph near Nye, 58 mph in the mountains above Red Lodge. October 31: Mountain wave winds resulted in a 59 mph peak gust along with a temperature rise to 68 degrees at Sheridan during the night. The peak gust occurred at about 5 am. November 16-17: Snow impacted much of the area, especially along the southern foothills. Story and Red Lodge received over a foot of snow (up to 18 inches at Story and 16 inches at Red Lodge). Other totals included: 10 inches at Sheridan and Joliet, 7 inches at Fort Smith and Pryor. Billings picked up about 2 inches. The Beartooth Absaroka and Bighorn Mountains received 12-18 inches of snow. Sheridan's 0.84 inches of precipitation on the 17th was a daily record. November 28-29: Snow, gusty northwest winds and areas of blowing snow impacted eastern areas. Snow amounts in Fallon, Carter, Powder River and eastern Custer Counties mostly ranged from 2 to 5 inches, but there were some locally higher amounts: Ismay 8 inches, Plevna and Broadus about 7 inches. Up to 17 inches of snow fell in the Bighorn Mountains. December 4-5: A Canadian cold front brought the coldest air yet of the season, along with accumulating snowfall over the southern mountains and foothills. Snow amounts included: Story 9 inches, McLeod and Dayton 6 inches, Red Lodge area 2-6 inches, Bridger 4 inches, Sheridan 2 inches. December 14-19: A winter storm of historical proportions impacted the region, with heavy snow followed by bitter cold and then strong winds with significant blowing and drifting snow. Snow amounts exceeded a foot for many areas from Billings westward. Big Timber received up to 23 inches, 12-17 inches fell in the Billings area, Mystic Lake 20 inches, 19 inches near Clyde Park, Springdale 16 inches, Livingston 14 inches, Columbus 13 inches, Sheridan 7 inches. For Billings, the total of 16.9 inches on the 15-16th ranked as the 5th highest 2-day snow event on record. Billings' schools were closed on the 16th. Bitter cold settled in on the 17th. Low temps included: Dayton -39, Columbus and Mizpah -34, Hardin -30, Big Timber -29, Livingston and Miles City -27, Red Lodge -26, Sheridan -25 and Billings -19. Winds increased significantly by the 18-19th, combining with the freshly fallen powdery snow to cause blizzard conditions which closed I-90 from Livingston to Park City for about 27 hours. Other smaller roads were closed or impassable due to blowing and drifting snow and very poor visibility. Peak gusts included: Livingston 83 mph, Nye 74 mph, Big Timber 72 mph. December 24-25: Heavy snowfall and strong northwest winds impacted southeast Montana. Snowfall was difficult if not impossible to measure due to the strong winds and drifting, but amounts of 8-12 inches were common from Big Horn County eastward. This included Lame Deer, Miles City, Baker, Broadus and Ekalaka. 18 inches was reported to have fallen near Volborg. Interstate 90 from Sheridan to Buffalo (and eastward to Gillette), and portions of Highway 212, were closed due to blizzard conditions in these areas.