Flash Flooding and Hail in Montana, July 14, 2001

Name: Flash Flooding and Hail in Montana, July 14, 2001
Start: 2001-07-14T15:40
End: 2001-07-14T19:48
Location: Montana

July 14, 2001 · NWS BYZ · 14 events in 5 counties and zones

5 flash flood, 3 hail, 3 heavy rain, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 14

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 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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 14, 12:50 PM MST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 14, 12:50 PM MST, 2 hours 50 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 159 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 flash flood, 3 hail, 3 heavy rain, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Powder River

When: July 14, 3:40 PM MST
Where: Powder River County, Biddle
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.800, -106.267

Pea size hail and 1 inch of rain in 20 minutes

Hail, Powder River

When: July 14, 4:00 PM MST
Where: Powder River County, Biddle
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.800, -106.267

Flash Flood, Powder River

When: July 14, 4:15 PM MST
Where: Powder River County, Biddle
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.395, -105.630 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

2 inches of rain and pea size hail

Hail, Yellowstone

When: July 14, 4:30 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, Huntley
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.937, -108.274 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Ground covered by hail and white.

Funnel Cloud, Big Horn

When: July 14, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, 15 mi NW of Yellowtail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.424, -107.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Carbon

When: July 14, 5:32 PM MST
Where: Carbon County, Joliet
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.227, -109.028 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Carbon

When: July 14, 5:32 PM MST
Where: Carbon County, Joliet
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.900, -108.317

0.3 inches of rain in 30 minutes

Heavy Rain, Carbon

When: July 14, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Carbon County, Bridger
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.227, -109.028 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

1.5 inches of rain in 35 minutes with 2 inches of water over main street

Heavy Rain, Carbon

When: July 14, 6:14 PM MST
Where: Carbon County, 2 mi N of Bridger
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.100, -105.350

1-2 inches of rain in 30 minutes

Thunderstorm Wind, Rosebud

When: July 14, 6:50 PM MST
Where: Rosebud County, 1 mi SW of Rock Spgs
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.230, -106.731 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Rosebud

When: July 14, 6:50 PM MST
Where: Rosebud County, 1 mi SW of Rock Spgs
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.230, -106.731 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Big Horn

When: July 14, 6:55 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, Decker
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.424, -107.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

1 inch of rain in 20 minutes

Flash Flood, Big Horn

When: July 14, 7:12 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, Decker
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.483, -108.983

2-3 feet of water running over the road in town

Flash Flood, Big Horn

When: July 14, 7:48 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, Decker
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 45.424, -107.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Gullies and valleys have torrential flow. Standing water over flat areas

What these are

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.
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.
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.
Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5259279, 5259280, 5259277, 5259278, 5259216, 5259217, 5259218, 5259219, 5259220, 5259221, 5259222, 5259281, 5259223, 5259276.