Two semitrailers toppled near Livingston, and one fell onto a deputy’s patrol vehicle as gusts swept through southern Montana.
LIVINGSTON, MT — Truck drivers crossing southern Montana this week said punishing winds on Interstate 90 made even short stretches of road feel dangerous, as gusts strong enough to overturn semitrailers shut part of the highway and sent a sheriff’s deputy to the hospital with minor injuries.
The trouble centered on the Livingston corridor Thursday, when authorities closed part of I-90 between the Bozeman and Big Timber exits after at least two semitrailers blew over near mile marker 350. A Park County deputy and rural fire crews had already responded to one tipped truck when another rig was pushed over by the wind and landed on the deputy’s patrol vehicle. The crashes and shutdown drew fresh attention to a stretch of interstate long known for strong crosswinds and for the strain they put on truckers, emergency crews and freight schedules.
By Thursday afternoon, wind had become the main story along the interstate east of Bozeman. Montana transportation officials posted road alerts warning of severe crosswinds through Livingston and closed westbound I-90 in the area while detours and restrictions were put in place. Eastbound high profile vehicles and towing units also faced limits as the gusts bore down on open stretches of pavement. In Park County, deputies and firefighters were called to a semitrailer that had tipped on westbound I-90 near mile marker 350. While responders worked that scene, another semitrailer was blown over and came down on a patrol vehicle with the deputy still inside. Authorities said the deputy suffered minor injuries and was expected to be checked at Livingston HealthCare. No serious injuries were immediately reported for the truck drivers involved.
For the people still trying to keep freight moving, the storm was less about headlines than about control. Keith McIntyre, a truck driver from Georgia, was passing through Montana with a load of french fries headed to Michigan when he described the conditions in blunt terms. “I’ve never seen winds like this before in my life,” McIntyre said. He said that in 24 years behind the wheel, wind has remained the weather threat he fears most because it can shift without warning and push a trailer sideways faster than a driver can react. “You can be blown over at any time,” he said. Another driver, James Bowman, who was hauling beer, said he has seen many kinds of bad weather but considers wind the most unstable because there is no clear gauge for how quickly it can change. Bowman said truckers slow down, watch surrounding traffic and think constantly about trailer weight and balance, but even then the road can turn unpredictable in seconds. What remains unclear is exactly how fast each gust was at the moments the trucks overturned, and whether cargo weight, trailer profile or lane position played a role in each blowover.
The Livingston area has long had a reputation as one of Montana’s toughest wind corridors, especially for high profile vehicles traveling across broad, exposed terrain where gusts can funnel through valleys and strike from the side. Forecasters reported gusts in the Livingston region topping 75 mph during Thursday’s event, and weather service reporting from the Billings office showed recent wind peaks in the corridor reaching the upper 70s. That kind of wind is not unusual enough to surprise longtime residents, but it is more than enough to force quick changes in traffic operations and emergency response. For truckers on interstate runs, the corridor is a chokepoint on a route that carries consumer goods, food, beer, machinery and other freight across the northern tier. A closure there does more than delay one driver. It can back up dispatch plans, idle trucks at exits and truck stops, slow deliveries across several states and force companies to decide whether to wait out the weather or reroute around it. On Thursday, drivers described that choice in practical terms: stop, inch forward cautiously, or risk a trailer getting light under a hard side gust.
The official response unfolded in stages. First came on scene help for the overturned semitrailer, then the second crash, then a broader effort to keep more vehicles from entering the most exposed stretch before the wind eased. Transportation officials closed westbound I-90 between Bozeman Exit 309 and Big Timber Exit 370 and warned of strong crosswinds through Livingston. In town, traffic detours were used to move some vehicles off the interstate while responders cleared the scene. Emergency officials in Park County also dealt with related hazards from the same weather system, including downed power lines and other travel dangers. By later Thursday and into Friday, forecasts said a cold front would push through and gradually end the strongest winds, though snow and blowing snow were expected to follow in parts of the region. As of Saturday, the immediate crash scene had been cleared, but the larger review of the incident had not produced public findings on whether any citations would be issued or whether investigators would classify the toppled trucks as weather related crashes without further enforcement action. No court filing or formal charging step had been announced.
Even after the interstate began moving again, drivers spoke about the wind with a kind of tired respect that comes from long miles in exposed country. McIntyre said, “This is the worst,” summing up a day that tested experienced drivers as much as newcomers. Bowman offered a similar view, saying wind is “the most problematic and turbulent” condition he deals with on the road. Those comments matched the scene around Livingston, where the concern was not only for semitrailers but also for smaller vehicles sharing the road beside them. Truckers said they have to account for the way gusts affect everyone differently, with lighter vehicles moving one way and loaded rigs fighting another. For local responders, the day also showed how quickly a routine roadside assist can turn more dangerous. A deputy who had stopped to help at one blowover ended up trapped in a patrol vehicle under another truck, yet escaped with minor injuries. That outcome left officials describing the incident as serious but fortunate, and it gave truckers one more story to tell about a stretch of Montana highway where the wind can take over the road in an instant.
By Saturday, the crashes had become a vivid example of how fast freight traffic can be disrupted in the Livingston corridor, with the next milestone likely to come when local officials or transportation agencies release any fuller incident summary tied to Thursday’s blowovers and response.
Author note: Last updated March 14, 2026.