Earlier this afternoon, the National Weather Service in Great Falls confirmed that a landspout tornado occurred around 4pm on Wednesday, 5/13/26. This tornado was located about 10 miles WNW of Big Sandy and had an undetermined rating as there were no damage reports. This is the first confirmed tornado of 2026.
Detailed forecast:
Today has been an extremely windy day, especially in northeastern Montana, where many locations recorded wind gusts between 60 and 85 mph. Glasgow recorded a peak wind gust of 82 mph, which is tied for the second strongest wind gust on record and is the strongest wind gust ever recorded during the month of May. In north-central Montana, peak wind gusts today were generally between 45 and 65 mph, but there were some gusts over 80 mph along the Rocky Mountain Front.
The strong winds and dry conditions led to a massive amount of blowing dust in northeastern Montana. Multiple roads, including Highway 2, were closed for several hours due to near-zero visibility and multiple accidents. A majority of roads have been allowed to reopen, but severe driving conditions remain, and travel is still not recommended.
A BLOWING DUST ADVISORY remains in effect for northeastern Montana through 12am Friday. Visibility less than one mile is possible in blowing dust.
A HIGH WIND WARNING remains in effect for the Rocky Mountain Front, northeastern Montana, the Bear Paw mountains, and Blaine/Hill counties through 12am Friday.
A RED FLAG WARNING remains in effect for northeastern Montana until 9pm Friday.
The worst of the wind is now over with and the wind will diminish some as we go through this evening. Tonight, the wind will be weaker than it was today, but it will still be gusty as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 30 mph, and wind gusts over 40 mph are possible at times. Tomorrow will be another windy day, but the wind will not be as strong as it was today. Sustained wind speeds are going to be between 15 and 35 mph, and wind gusts up to or over 50 mph will be possible at times. The wind tomorrow will be coming out of the west, and areas of blowing dust will be possible once again in northeastern Montana, but the blowing dust will not be as bad as it was today.
Tonight, it will be partly cloudy to mostly clear and mostly dry, just a little rain/snow along the Divide after midnight. Lows tonight will be in the mid to upper 30s and low to mid 40s.
Tomorrow will be a nice day (outside of the wind) as it is going to be mostly sunny and mostly dry, just a little snow/rain along the Divide and a few pop-up showers along the Hi-Line during the afternoon and evening. Tomorrow’s temperatures will be similar to today’s temperatures as highs are going to be in the 60s and upper 50s.
The weekend will be unsettled as a few disturbances impact the state. On Saturday, it is going to be partly to mostly cloudy and there will be some scattered rain and mountain snow showers around in central Montana and along the Rocky Mountain Front. There are then going to be scattered rain and snow showers in the lower elevations on Sunday and there will be snow in the mountains.
The temperatures will cool down a lot this weekend as highs are going to be in the 50s and low 60s on Saturday and the 40s and low 50s on Sunday. There will also be a cool breeze around this weekend as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 10 and 25 mph.
Monday will be partly to mostly cloudy with some scattered rain and snow showers around, generally in central Montana and in locations east of I-15, as Sunday’s storm continues to impact the state. It will also be cool, but a little warmer on Monday as highs are going to be in the mid to upper 40s and low to mid 50s. There will also be little to no wind on Monday.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, it is going to be partly cloudy and there are going to be a few scattered rain showers around, generally during the PM hours. It will also be warmer on these two days as highs are going to be back in the upper 50s and low to mid 60s. There will also only be a little breeze around on these two days as sustained wind speeds are going to be between 5 and 20 mph.
