The National Weather Service in Great Falls issued a rare civil emergency message Wednesday as a destructive windstorm pummeled Montana from one end of the state to the other, with some of the strongest gusts recorded in central Montana.
The weather service expected wind gusts greater than 90 mph in Pondera, Teton, and Lewis & Clark counties, prompting the emergency alert that activated the wireless emergency alert system to send warnings directly to cellphones.
"It can be used for weather or non-weather reasons. The primary reason why we deployed it today was to activate the wireless emergency alert system - WEA. That will allow these alerts to go to a person's cellphone to take immediate action," said Maura Casey, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The civil emergency message was the first issued by the weather service since December 2020, during a similar wind and dust storm between Great Falls and Havre. The National Weather Service coordinates with county emergency managers to decide when to issue this rare alert.
What made Wednesday's event particularly widespread was its prolonged nature and the strength of the accompanying cold front.
"This belt of wind came from the west and with how strong the cold front was accompanying it, it was able to reach down to the surface. What makes this event unique is it's more of a prolonged wind event. It's the entire day that we're experiencing these strong winds," Casey said.
The windstorm didn't just hit the plains. Some typically protected mountain valleys experienced destructive wind gusts, with 70 to 80 mph gusts recorded in the Helena and Gallatin valleys.
"The more complex topography make it a little bit difficult south of Great Falls. In this case, because we had that belt of winds that came right over Helena and Bozeman - they essentially had a closer access to that wind," Casey said.
The destructive winds stem from an extremely active weather pattern that has been pummeling the Pacific Northwest with flooding rains, heavy mountain snow and high winds.
"We remain in the same very active Pacific weather pattern. While we have high confidence - maybe not as strong as today- but we will get more wind events in the coming weeks," Casey said.
The weather service recommends staying prepared by keeping up with the latest forecast, especially given the active pattern that doesn't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.
This article has been lightly edited with the assistance of AI for clarity, syntax, and grammar.
