Montana

Strong wind in the forecast statewide

Published

2 months ago

December 17, 2025

Nick Vertz suspected calm weather wouldn’t soon return after last week’s high-speed wind event that recorded 101-mph winds in Glacier County. The Billings-based National Weather Service forecaster said Montanans should expect exceptionally strong gusts Tuesday night and Wednesday.

“I joke that the weather’s just playing catch up with how mild of a fall and start to the winter we had,” Vertz told Montana Free Press on Tuesday.

Nearly the entire state is under an official high-wind warning, meaning the weather service expects wind speeds of 58 mph or greater. While the official warning status may vary by region, the weather service anticipates the strong winds will move west to east through late Wednesday evening.

The National Weather Service hazard forecast covered the state in a high wind warning at 5:30 on Tuesday. Credit: Courtesy National Weather Service

Winds aloft, higher altitude gusts that generally exceed wind speeds on the surface, are both unusually powerful and relatively low in altitude. Vertz says high-speed winds aloft blowing downward is the result of warm weather.

“You can think of it as pushing those strong winds aloft down to reach the surface,” Vertz said.

Though much of Montana experienced a similar strong-wind pattern last week, Vertz said this system is a statewide event and that the weather service has “more confidence in those stronger winds to occur just all across the board.”

With gusts coming out of the northwest, Vertz advised caution for drivers headed north or south, who would likely experience the “full brunt of those crosswinds.”

Montana’s most recent experience with a major wind event on a similar scale occurred in January 2021, according to Vertz.

Ongoing flooding in northwest Montana makes the area particularly vulnerable to high-wind hazards, like saturated soil around tree roots, according to Bryan Conlan, a weather service meteorologist based out of Missoula.

“Anywhere within western Montana at this point, with these strong to damaging winds, trees could blow over,” Conlan said.

Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday requested President Donald Trump issue a presidential disaster declaration in response to the flooding in the northwest part of the state.

As even more ocean moisture makes its way from the Pacific Northwest into Montana via “atmospheric rivers,” precipitation is likely to continue in western Montana.

“One of the differences between this and the prior system is there will be a very strong cold front that’ll be coming along,” Conlan said.

A cold front on Wednesday will mix with moisture from the atmospheric river, producing a combination of rain and snow. Cold air also leads to winds aloft descending, resulting in strong wind across high elevations in western Montana. On Monday night, winds in Glacier National Park reached almost 100 mph.

“This is going to be a fairly strong event,” Conlan said.

Nora Mabie contributed to this reporting.

LATEST STORIES

Missoula’s domestic violence shelter strapped for space as housing crunch persists

The domestic violence shelter in Missoula is one of many statewide that have seen more people staying longer as Montana’s housing market boomed following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cascade County inmates positive for hepatitis C after being served blood-contaminated food, lawsuit contends

The case, filed by 27 inmates, claims that employees of the jail’s food service vendor told kitchen staff not to dispose of the contaminated food and that inmates could “scoop around” the blood, according to court documents.

Homemade grissini, aka supper-club breadsticks

It’s hard to go to a party these days without finding a nicely plated platter full of cured meats, cheeses, nuts, fruits, dips, and more. Store-bought crackers are usually the carb of choice on these charcuterie boards, but they can’t compare to a beautiful bouquet of homemade breadsticks standing watch over the appetizers.

Source link

Montana

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

Published

3 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Evacuation orders issued as 5,000-acre wildfire burns near Roundup, Montana

ROUNDUP, Mont. —
The Rehder Creek Fire is burning 16 miles southeast of Roundup has grown to about 5,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders for residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision.

The fire started Feb. 26, the cause is unknown and containment was at 0%.

Evacuation orders are in effect for all residents in the Bruner Mountain Area/Subdivision. The Musselshell County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating the evacuation orders, and 911 reverse calls have been sent out to advise people in the area.

A shelter is opening at the Roundup Community Center. Residents were told to contact Musselshell County DES for further information.

Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The public is asked to avoid the Fattig Creek and Rehder Road area so emergency personnel can safely and effectively perform their work.

Fire resources assigned to the incident include 40 total personnel, 11 engines, one Type 2 helicopter, three tenders and two dozers.

Source link

Montana

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

Published

15 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

February 26 recap: Missoula and Western Montana news you may have missed today

State

Zip Code

Country

Source link

Montana

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Escobar, Jayapal, Members of Congress Call on Camp East Montana to be Shut Down – Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16) – joined by Representative Pramila Jayapal, the Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, and 22 other Members of Congress – sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons calling for the immediate closure of Camp East Montana in El Paso. They cite urgent humanitarian concerns following multiple deaths in custody, documented unsafe conditions, and serious deficiencies in medical care.

This marks the fourth letter Congresswoman Escobar has sent to DHS and ICE leadership. The previous three letters have gone unanswered.

The letter can be found in its entirety below and here.

“Secretary Noem and Acting Director Lyons:

We are urgently calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS or the Department) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to shut down Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas.

Camp East Montana has been operational for six months, and at least three people have died at the site since December 2025: Francisco Gaspar-Andres, Geraldo Lunas Campos, and Victor Manuel Diaz. The El Paso County Medical Examiner has officially ruled Lunas Campos’ death a homicide, citing “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression.”

Camp East Montana was constructed in a matter of weeks and opened before construction was complete and it does not have enough federal staff on-site to provide adequate oversight. Over the last several months, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, in whose district this facility is located, has sent multiple letters to DHS and ICE regarding concerns about the conditions at Camp East Montana, and has received no responses.

According to detainees, there have been constant and consistent problems at the facility since it opened, beginning with the facility’s poor construction and poor ambient temperature control. Upon opening, the drinking water at Camp East Montana tasted foul and made some detainees sick. Detainees continue to be served inadequate meals, including food that is rotten or frozen; last fall, the facility was also consistently failing to make dietary accommodations for detainees. Detainees have shared that they have sporadic access to outside spaces and recreational areas, and that their dormitory pods are cleaned only once every eight days, despite pods housing up to 72 people at a time. Laundry services are not consistent, and people are washing their clothes in the facility showers. Additionally, the facility experiences flooding and sewage backups when it rains, leading to stagnant water.

One of the biggest concerns with the Camp East Montana facility is the inadequate medical care being provided to detainees. Our offices have heard that only the most ill detainees are referred to the medical unit and that there are inconsistencies as to how soon after arriving detainees are able to undergo initial medical screenings. Detainees with chronic health issues who rely on regimented medications for their health have had difficulty accessing necessary medications, including blood pressure medication and insulin.

At least one of the deaths that occurred in ICE custody, the death of Francisco Gaspar-Andres, appears to partially be the result of poor medical care by staff at the facility. According to ICE’s own account, Gaspar-Andres sought medical attention from facility staff for increasingly serious symptoms, but was only transferred to an area hospital once his condition had severely deteriorated.

In addition to our concerns about poor medical care, we are also aware that detainees have experienced irregular access to their legal counsel, including instances of detainees having only two minutes allotted per phone call every 8 days, which is contrary to ICE’s Detention Standards on access to counsel, and that the belatedly created law library lacks adequate resources for the amount of people currently held at the facility. In January 2026, ICE announced the on-site death of Geraldo Lunas Campos “after experiencing medical distress.” ICE opened an investigation into the death, but did not provide a cause of death. However, The Washington Post later reported that another man detained at Camp East Montana had witnessed guards choking Lunas Campos when he refused to enter a segregated housing unit. Weeks later, the El Paso County Medical Examiner ruled that Lunas Campos had experienced “asphyxia due to neck and torso compression” and ruled his death a homicide.

Lunas Campos is the first detainee to die at Camp East Montana as a result of a use-of-force incident, but we are strongly concerned that he will not be the last if ICE is allowed to continue operating Camp East Montana.

ICE was given $45 billion in taxpayer dollars in the reconciliation bill, $1.2 billion of which were awarded to Acquisition Logistics, LLC, a company with no previous experience managing immigration detention facilities, to build and oversee Camp East Montana. However, in the wake of three deaths in custody so far, continued concerns about conditions at the facility, and ICE’s apparent disinterest in responding to oversight letters from Congress, we do not believe Camp East Montana is being run professionally or responsibly.

Camp East Montana must be shut down. For the safety of everyone at the facility, for an end to abuses to detainees, and for fiscal responsibility to the American people, the site cannot continue to operate. We are calling on DHS and ICE to move to immediately close operations at Camp East Montana.

We look forward to hearing from the Department promptly on this matter.

The other co-signers include Representatives Yassamin Ansari, Nanette Barragán, Yvette Clarke, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Jesús “Chuy” García, Sylvia Garcia, Daniel Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Henry Johnson, Stephen Lynch, Seth Moulton, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delia Ramirez, Andrea Salinas, Janice Schakowsky, Darren Soto, Rashida Tlaib, Paul Tonko, Lauren Underwood, Gabe Vasquez, and Nydia Velázquez.

Issues: Immigration

Source link