Montana, 2001

Hail in Montana, July 2, 2001

July 2, 2001 · NWS BYZ · 13 events in 5 counties and zones

A persistent weather pattern exhibiting favorable shear, upper level flow, and abundant low-level moisture, provided sufficient dynamics to allow numerous supercell thunderstorms to develop across south-central and southeast Montana and Sheridan County, Wyoming from June 26 to July 31, 2001. Supercells and other severe thunderstorms (mainly large hail producers) developed almost daily across the…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
13

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 BYZ wrote it up.

A persistent weather pattern exhibiting favorable shear, upper level flow, and abundant low-level moisture, provided sufficient dynamics to allow numerous supercell thunderstorms to develop across south-central and southeast Montana and Sheridan County, Wyoming from June 26 to July 31, 2001. Supercells and other severe thunderstorms (mainly large hail producers) developed almost daily across the NWS Billings County Warning Area during this time period.

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 1, 7:50 PM MST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 7:50 PM MST, 4 hours 10 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
850 PM MDT SUN JUL 1 2001

.MON AND TUE...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH GOING UNTIL MIDNIGHT. SHORTWAVE TRACKING INTO
THE AREA NOW WITH ANOTHER WAVE BEHIND IT IN IDAHO. STORMS HAVE RISEN
AND THEN FALLEN THE LAST COUPLE OF HOURS. CAP A LITTLE TOO STRONG AT THE
MOMENT. AS STORMS CONTINUE TO FIRE OVER THE MOUNTAINS...THIS SHOULD AID
IN CAP EROSION AND ALLOW FOR AN EASTWARD PROGRESSION. DEWPOINTS IN THE
60S ALMOST EVERYWHERE WITH MID 60S AT BILLINGS. SHEAR STILL SUPPORTS
SUPERCELLS. FRONTAL BOUNDARY LAYING OVER SOUTHERN MONTANA TO INTERACT
WITH. LIKE THE IDEA OF THE WATCH AND FEEL THINGS WILL CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP THIS EVENING...THEN SHIFT EAST OVERNIGHT. NEXT UPSTREAM WAVE
COULD MAKE FOR ANOTHER LONG NIGHT. INSTABILITY TAPERS OFF OVER THE
EXTREME EAST...SO STORMS SHOULD DECREASE OVER THE LAST TWO EASTERN
COUNTIES. CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. HUMPHREY

.WED...THU...FRI...SAT...SUN...
RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE AREA WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...BUT 00Z AND 12Z
AVN/MRF INDICATE A SHORT WAVE WILL BRIEFLY KNOCK THE RIDGE DOWN
ON FRIDAY.  WILL THEREFORE INTRODUCE CHANCE POPS TO CENTRAL AND
EASTERN ZONES WHERE GREATEST INSTABILITY WILL EXIST.  RIDGE SHOULD
RETURN FOR SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.  WITH THE RIDGE OVERHEAD...TEMPS WILL
BE A FEW DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.  MOORE

    MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 061/092 060/091 057/088 057/090 054/087 059/087 056/089
    42/T    20/B    01/B    20/B    33/T    11/B    11/B
LVM 057/090 058/091 053/088 052/087 050/087 055/087 056/088
    40/B    00/B    01/B    20/B    22/B    11/B    11/B
HDN 059/094 058/093 055/090 053/088 051/088 063/090 062/090
    42/T    20/B    01/B    20/B    33/T    11/B    11/B
MLS 058/090 058/090 059/087 055/086 054/085 059/085 059/086
    33/T    20/B    01/B    00/B    33/T    11/B    11/B
4BQ 057/089 057/090 057/086 054/084 053/084 058/088 058/089
    33/T    20/B    01/B    00/B    33/T    11/B    11/B
BHK 056/087 056/088 055/085 053/085 052/083 054/083 054/085
    33/T    20/B    01/B    00/B    33/T    11/B    11/B
SHR 057/091 056/091 052/088 051/086 050/086 051/086 052/086
    22/T    22/T    01/B    00/B    33/T    11/B    11/B

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

13 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Golden Valley

When
July 2, 12:00 AM MST
Where
Golden Valley County, 27 mi N of Lavina
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.667, -108.933

Hail, Golden Valley

When
July 2, 2:00 AM MST
Where
Golden Valley County, 27 mi N of Lavina
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.667, -108.933

Hail, Musselshell

When
July 2, 2:10 AM MST
Where
Musselshell County, 10 mi N of Roundup
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.600, -108.533

Hail, Treasure

When
July 2, 4:30 AM MST
Where
Treasure County, 11 mi N of Hysham
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.467, -107.233

Hail, Rosebud

When
July 2, 4:40 AM MST
Where
Rosebud County, Vananda
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.383, -107.000

Hail, Musselshell

When
July 2, 5:32 AM MST
Where
Musselshell County, Roundup
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.450, -108.533

Hail, Yellowstone

When
July 2, 6:30 AM MST
Where
Yellowstone County, 45 mi NE of Billings
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.267, -107.817

Hail, Yellowstone

When
July 2, 6:55 AM MST
Where
Yellowstone County, 6 mi NE of Custer
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.200, -107.467

Hail, Rosebud

When
July 2, 7:00 AM MST
Where
Rosebud County, 14 mi W of Forsyth
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.267, -106.967

Hail, Rosebud

When
July 2, 7:00 AM MST
Where
Rosebud County, 12 mi SW of Forsyth
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.150, -106.850

Hail, Rosebud

When
July 2, 7:25 AM MST
Where
Rosebud County, 12 mi W of Forsyth
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.267, -106.917

Hail, Treasure

When
July 2, 7:30 AM MST
Where
Treasure County, 8 mi SE of Hysham
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.217, -107.117

Hail, Treasure

When
July 2, 8:03 AM MST
Where
Treasure County, Hysham
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.300, -107.233

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

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: 5259095, 5259096, 5259097, 5259098, 5259099, 5259100, 5259101, 5259102, 5259103, 5259104, 5259105, 5259106, 5259107.