Weather Wise: 2022 was another year of extremes in Montana

PRECIPITATION

As 2022 comes to a close, the year can be best summarized as a year of extremes for Montana. At the start of the year, nearly 60% of the state was experiencing a Level 4 severe drought. As of December 31st, severe drought still encompasses 12% of the state, largely impacting eastern portions of the Hi-Line. Despite it being a La Niña winter, the 2021-2022 winter season started on a dry note. While Great Falls and Helena received slightly above normal precipitation throughout winter, the Hi-Line and much of central Montana continued to tack on to mounting precipitation deficits.

Throughout late winter and spring, heavy snowfall piled up in the mountains as the plains continued to stay relatively dry. By mid-June, heavy rainfall and rapid snowmelt resulted in a violent torrent of water rushing into rivers near Yellowstone and the Paradise Valley causing historic flooding. Meanwhile, north central Montana continued to receive subpar rainfall during its climatological wettest time period.

In the fall months and early winter, north central Montana generally received above normal precipitation. There was also no shortage of snowfall in November and December, most locations received 10-20 inches above the normal winter season (July 1st-December 31st) snowfall. Havre recorded the most snowfall in the month of December since snowfall record-keeping began at the airport in 1961. Glasgow and Great Falls experienced their 4th and 6th snowiest start to winter (July 1st-December 31st), respectively.

TEMPERATURES

Meteorological winter (January 1st-March 31st) was spent relatively close to normal temperature-wise in Montana. Winter arrived late with above normal snowfall and well below normal temperatures throughout April and early May. June temperatures were right around normal, followed by several months of above normal temperatures lasting from July all the way through October. Glasgow recorded the second most 100°+ days in a calendar year, while Great Falls recorded the all-time most 90°+ days in a year. The late season heat was very impressive, with Helena recording its first ever 100°+ day on record.

After a stretch of extremely tranquil and mild weather in October, the cold air took over with a vengeance. On Election Day (November 8th), Great Falls recorded a high temperature of just 5°, the coldest November 8th on record. As a whole, temperatures ran 8 to 12 degrees below normal for the month of November in central and eastern Montana.

Likely the most memorable stretch of weather being the pre-Christmas Arctic blast that ended up impacting the majority of the Lower 48 states. Great Falls airport spent over 140 hours below 0° with wind chills reaching to -50s, -60s and even -70s below. The lowest recorded wind chill was 3 miles south of Malta, where it felt like -72° on December 21st. Great Falls International Airport recorded its coldest day since December 21st, 1990 on December 21st, 2022. The average temperature throughout the day was -49.9° below climatological normal.

GREAT FALLS

HELENA

LEWISTOWN

CUT BANK

HAVRE

GLASGOW