The Boyes area received massive amounts of snowfall and drifting in the April 23rd snowstorm, as evidenced above by the drift Randy Trucano had to dig through to reach his cattle. (Photo courtesy Cynde Trucano)
Photography was a difficult task in the midst of the April 23rd blizzard. Cattle are pictured facing downwind to shield their faces from wind driven snow, blowing from right to left in the photo above.
The second severe blizzard in the same number of weeks bore down on Southeastern Montana on Saturday, April 23rd, bringing with it high winds and a good shot of moisture for the area. Unlike the previous storm, which was more of a winter form in April featuring near record low temperatures along with high winds, this storm was more typical of the season, featuring heavy precipitation and quickly warming conditions as the storm passed.
On late Friday evening the storm began with rain at locations on Powder River, continuing into the early hours of Saturday when the rain turned to snow. Throughout the day the temperature hovered just below freezing, with piercing wind driving the snow/sleet horizontally. By Saturday night the storm had played out, bringing on above freezing temperatures on Sunday and a welcome respite from the storm.
Ranchers and other residents were well prepared for this second storm, having recent experience with the prior storm, as well as a predicted forecast by the National Weather Service for 18-24" of snow in the Broadus area, with more in higher elevations. That prediction was difficult to measure, as in some areas more rain fell before turning to snow, and the high winds with gusts of at least 50 mph made accurate snow depths a lesson in frustration. Some areas were nearly blown clean, while vehicle swallowing drifts were not uncommon in areas prone to drifting. The 2-3" of predicted moisture for much of the area was also difficult to measure, as so much of the precipitation fell to Earth in a rather horizontal fashion, potentially missing the rain gauges.
Official weather stations around the county recorded the following: The Biddle 8 miles SW station, 10" of snow and 1.47" of moisture in total. The Moorhead 9 miles NE station measured 5" of snow and 0.85" of moisture. The Sonnette 7 miles SW station had 14.1" of snow, and an additional 2.4" measured on Sunday, with 1.47" in total from the storm. The Volborg station received 2.19" of moisture on April 24th. The Powderville 8 miles NNE station had 13" of snow and 1.48" of moisture on the 23rd.
Areas further afield to the Northeast received even more snow; Ekalaka had 18.3" of snow in the storm, having received 21.5" in the April 12-14 storm.
Winds generated during the storm were quite impressive. The Bradshaw Creek RAWS station, located west of Moorhead recorded a gust of 50 mph on the 23rd. Fort Howes recorded a 46 mph gust the same day, and Ekalaka had a top speed of 49, measured on the 24th.
The April 23rd storm brought power outages throughout the area, though most were more limited in locality and duration. In Broadus the power went out for brief periods on Saturday, and again Saturday night, but the diligent work by TRECO crews helped keep folks warm and cozy with electricity, and everything back on across the TRECO coverage area by Sunday afternoon.
The storm closed major highways in Southeastern Montana, with Wyoming closing Hwy 59 between Gillette and the state line early Saturday morning, and by around 9 am Hwy 212 closed down, as well as Hwy 59 towards Biddle. By mid-afternoon Hwy 59 from Broadus to Miles City was also closed. By early afternoon on Sunday, all roads had re-opened. In the meantime, five separate vehicle slide offs between Broadus and Alzada were listed on the Montana Highway Patrol incident website, with another crash with no injuries was reported on Hwy 59 North of Broadus near Olive.
During the storm, members of the Broadus. Volunteer Fire Department helped rescue a couple with a baby who had become stranded at Diamond Butte Lookout Tower in SW PR County after they rented out the lookout.
Livestock losses in the storm seemed to be moderate from what we could gather, though reports may be slow in coming in, for areas more heavily affected by the blizzard. Newborn baby calf losses were reported, as well as cases where calves were trampled by mothers when in areas with limited space. Otherwise, older calves and cows handled the biting winds and driving snow in better form, provided they found a modicum of shelter.
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