Thunderstorm Wind, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 3:32 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 10 mi N of Edwards
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 47.283, -107.333
Flash Flood and Hail in Montana, July 12 to 13, 2001
An isolated supercell thunderstorm formed over Garfield County, and remained nearly stationary for an hour. The storm produced 3 to 6 inches of rainfall which led to the coulees and ditches to fill up with water.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $15,000
- Crop damage
- $325,000
- Events
- 9
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GGW wrote it up.
An isolated supercell thunderstorm formed over Garfield County, and remained nearly stationary for an hour. The storm produced 3 to 6 inches of rainfall which led to the coulees and ditches to fill up with water. The water overtopped the gravel roads in numerous locations from the Edwards to Brusett areas. The area with the most substantial flood damage was about 10 miles north of Edwards where a new storm drain had just been put it. It replaced an old bridge that had recently been taken out. The new storm drain partially collapsed as the debris hit it and portions of the gravel road were washed out. Several people had to detour by over 10 miles in order to get home. Large hail also accompanied this storm and drifts up to 10 feet in the coulees were reported by the emergency manager. Upon surveying the area four days later, there were still areas with golfball size hail embedded in straw and mud with drifts 3-4 feet deep. The combination of large hail and flash flooding through the fields caused several thousand acres of crops to have 50 percent crop loss. There were several hundred acres of crops that were 100 percent destroyed, with all the crop remnants washed out by the intense rainfall and hail. Montana Highway 200, about 22 miles southeast of Jordan, had water go across the highway as the storm drains clogged up with the damaged wheat and other debris.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 12, 1:29 PM MST, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 1:29 PM MST, 2 hours 3 minutes before
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
229 PM MDT THU JUL 12 2001
THIS AFTERNOON A DEW POINT FRONT ACROSS CENTRAL MONTANA. DEW POINTS
ACROSS THE CWFA IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S. CONVECTION FIRING OVER
WESTERN MONTANA WITH A SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH THE WESTERN PART OF
THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WAVE CONTINUES TO NNE A PIECE OF THIS
WAVE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE WESTERN AREAS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.
THIS EVENING...SHRA/TSRA SHOULD MOVING INTO THE REGION MAINLY OVER
THE WESTERN CWFA...ALREADY HAVING AFTERNOON POPCORN CONVECTION OVER
THE SOUTHERN CWFA WITH DAYTIME HEATING. SPC SWODY1 UPDATE PUTS THE
WESTERN ZONES IN A SLGT RISK FOR SVR. TIME HEIGHT SOUNDINGS SHOW A
BETTER SHEAR ENVIRONMENT FOR THIS EVENING ACROSS THE WEST...WET BULB
ZEROS ARE PRETTY HIGH FOR A SIGNIFICANT THREAT OF LARGE
HAIL...HOWEVER STRONG GUSTS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH LARGER STORMS...AND
MOST OF ALL VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. WILL HOLD UP ON A FLASH FLOOD WATCH
FOR THE EASTERN ZONES SINCE THE BEST CHANCE FOR TSRA REMAINS WEST
AND SOUTH.
AFTER THE CONVECTION MOVES OUT LATE THIS EVENING...DO EXPECT ANOTHER
ROUND OF LOWS ST/FG FOR THE EARLY MORNING HOURS FOR THE MISSOURI AND
MILK RIVER VALLEYS. WILL ADD AM FG TO THE ZONES. ETA TRIES TO KEEP
LOW CLOUDS IN ALL DAY ON FRIDAY...HOWEVER DO EXPECT WITH THIS TIME
OF YEAR THE CLOUDS WILL LIFT OUT WITH THE HEATING OF THE DAY.
LOOKING FOR MORE OF THE SAME WITH PM TSRA AGAIN. SAME PATTERN FOR
SATURDAY CONTINUES.
FOR TEMPS...GOING TO STAY WITH THE STATUS QUO...MODELS ARE TRYING TO
COOL DOWN THE TEMPS SOME ON SATURDAY...HOWEVER NOT BUYING INTO THAT
YET...WILL KEEP THEM UP. PROTON
EXTENDED...MODELS SUGGEST AN OMEGA BLOCK DEVELOPING OVER NORTH
AMERICA DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS
FORECAST TO REMAIN EAST OF MONTANA WITH A DEEP TROUGH ALONG THE WEST
COAST AND AN UPPER LOW OVER SOUTHWEST CANADA. THIS PATTERN KEEPS
NORTHEAST MONTANA IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD.
WILL CONTINUE WITH CHANCE POPS EACH DAY WITH TEMPERATURES REMAINING
NEAR NORMAL. WATERHOUSE
KGGW 064/088 062/088 062/088 061/087 060/086 060/086 059/085
TTTTTTT 943232/9933333
KGDV 064/090 064/092 063/090 062/089 061/088 060/087 059/086
TTTTTTT 943232/9933333
.GGW...NONE.The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
6 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 3:32 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 10 mi N of Edwards
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 47.283, -107.333
Hail, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 10 mi N of Edwards
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Crop damage
- $75,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 47.283, -107.333
Hail, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 4:00 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 2 mi NW of Edwards
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Crop damage
- $75,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 47.150, -107.367
Hail, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 4:05 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 13 mi NE of Edwards
- Measured
- 1.75 in hail
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 47.267, -107.133
Funnel Cloud, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 4:10 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 12 mi W of Jordan
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Sheriff reported a funnel cloud could be seen from Highway 200.
Hail, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 4:25 PM MST to 4:45 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 10 mi N of Edwards
- Measured
- 2 in hail
- Crop damage
- $175,000
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 47.283, -107.333
Flash Flood, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 5:00 PM MST to July 13, 1:00 AM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, West Central Portion
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Hail, Garfield
- When
- July 12, 6:36 PM MST to 6:41 PM MST
- Where
- Garfield County, 23 mi SE of Cohagen
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 46.800, -106.250
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
- Funnel Cloud
- A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flood in Washington, July 12, 2001
- Heat in Mississippi, July 12, 2001
- Heat in Texas, July 12, 2001
- Wildfire in California, July 12, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Montana, July 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 12, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Louisiana, July 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, July 12, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Colorado, July 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, July 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, July 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, July 12, 2001
More
Every storm in Montana in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, July 2001
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5261613, 5261614, 5261615, 5261617, 5261616, 5261618, 5261619, 5261621, 5261620.