Montana wind factor

[kayla-3]

I live in montana on the hi-line and it is windy every day. what part of montana are you looking at moving to??? Montana is a great state to live in.. Good Luck...

[Doug Benson]

You might inquire at NOA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Center. They have offices everywhere and will be willing to give you atmospheric info almost anywhere your lil heart desires.

[Timberwolf232]

Great Falls is windy, Lewistown, Judith Gap down to Willsall and Clyde Park all the way to Livingston, (anywhere in the paradise valley and most of park county,) Big Timber through Columbus and the surrounding areas are pretty windy. Bozeman is surprisingly mild, but its windier as you travel west. (North of Belgrade, Logan, Three Forks, etc..) Its definitely windier on a regular basis EAST of Bozeman, Bozeman is fairly shielded by the mtns, and then gets windier as you go west, but not as bad.

[Reziac]

Funny story from about 30 years ago: Some alt-energy company looked at the wind near Livingston and thought this would be a great place to put up some windmills. So they did. On the hill above town, where the freeway goes over the mountain.... where they have gates on the freeway that get closed sometimes because the wind is blowing 18-wheelers off the road.

The windmills had been up for 3 days when the wind came along and took 'em out.

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[Nomianca]

Some parts of the state are definitely windier than others. I no longer live in MT (as of 5 months ago) and where I am from on the Hi-Line it got VERY windy. They are building a wind-mill "farm" about 15 miles from my hometown to take advantage of all the wind to supply energy.

Missoula is lovely...I absolutely LOVED it there. Not much wind but very expensive.

[grizzfan]

What Reziac says two posts above is absolutely true. There are still three turbines on the Harvat Flats however.

Threre is a geological formation, seen by Lewis & Clark, called the Rocky Mountain Front. Generally it traces the Continental Divide. That seems to be where the wind starts in Montana and most everywhere south and east of there will have a bumper supply of it.

[rangerider]

I remember the collection of wind machines on the flats; there were several different varieties in place, but the two stoutest on the east side of the project are the only ones to survive. One was put up that looked like a wheel attached to a center pin assembly. The wheel stood upright and ran on a railroad track that circled the center tower; it was attached by a framework that allowed the whole thing to pivot with the wind. I never really remember being by there and seeing this thing turn, but at the time I was living up the Shields valley on Elk Creek and only made it into town once every two weeks to a month. I don't think that particular model weathered very well as I can recall driving into Livingston and seeing the wreckage one morning.

You could still see the concrete base for the tower and the circular railroad track the last time I was up on the flats a few years ago. Wish I had had presence of mind to take a picture of the whole collection when it was in it's prime - was quite a variety of shapes and sizes.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by rangerider

I remember the collection of wind machines on the flats; there were several different varieties in place, but the two stoutest on the east side of the project are the only ones to survive

I only saw some of the remains... did kinda take the wind outta their sails, haha

From Did You Know? -- Fun Great Falls Trivia

What Wind? On July 18, 1884, Mrs. Kate Beachley, who had just become the third white woman to arrive in Great Falls, commented on how hard the wind was blowing. Everyone laughed. Later, Mrs. Beachley realized that the "wind" was only a breeze by local standards.

BTW a Montana demographics site I just noticed: CEIC - Demographics

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[Kristynwy]

Originally Posted by Reziac

Funny story from about 30 years ago: Some alt-energy company looked at the wind near Livingston and thought this would be a great place to put up some windmills. So they did. On the hill above town, where the freeway goes over the mountain.... where they have gates on the freeway that get closed sometimes because the wind is blowing 18-wheelers off the road.

The windmills had been up for 3 days when the wind came along and took 'em out.

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HAHAHA That is too funny