Flash Flood, Ravalli
- When
- July 21, 4:40 PM MST to 8:00 PM MST
- Where
- Ravalli County, Sula
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 46.082, -114.121 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Montana, July 21, 2001
Heavy rain from thunderstorms moved across severely burned areas of southern Ravalli County for the second day. 5 inches deep.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 MSO wrote it up.
Heavy rain from thunderstorms moved across severely burned areas of southern Ravalli County for the second day. Rainfall of 0.50 inch in 20 minutes was reported along with small hail piling to 1.5 inches deep. Numerous reports of flood damage to homes occurred between Sula and Conner. East Fork road was covered in mud and debris up to ten feet deep. Highway 93 was flooded and closed for a time. Several other roads were washed out or blocked, including the North Fork Rye Creek road, and the Two Bear road along Sleeping Child Creek southeast of Hamilton. A restaurant and fire hall were flooded in the town of Sula along Laird Creek.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 21, 12:50 PM MST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 21, 12:50 PM MST, 3 hours 50 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 150 PM MDT SAT JUL 21 2001 .SHORT TERM...AVN HANDLING EJECTING SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST OREGON AT BASE OF TROUGH BETTER THAN 12Z ETA. THIS FEATURE HOLDS TOGETHER INTO THE LATE EVENING TO ENHANCE CONVECTION CURRENTLY FIRING OVER SOUTHERN ZONES. PWATS DOWN FROM YESTERDAY AND STILL A LITTLE UNCERTAIN ABOUT MODEL DIFFERENCES THIS EVENING...SO NO FLASH FLOOD WATCH PLANNED. WITH DRIER AIR AROUND CLOUDBASE LEVEL AND LOWER WETBULB ZEROES...WILL THROW IN MENTION OF GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL FOR SOME AREAS. MORE DISORGANIZED SHORTWAVE ENERGY DROPPING DOWN FROM SOUTHWEST CANADA WILL KEEP SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS GOING THROUGH THE MORNING ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES. FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM...STILL DEALING WITH TROUGH FOR CONTINUED INSTABILITY AND WEAK DYNAMICS SUPPORTING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LITTLE BETTER CHANCE IN NORTHWEST MONTANA TOMORROW AS NORTHERN WAVE AXIS DROPS THROUGH...SO WILL GO CATEGORICAL CONVECTIVE WORDING THERE...OTHERWISE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED ACROSS THE BOARD. SIGLER .EXTENDED...WEAK TROUGH LIFTS NORTH DAY3/4 (TUE/WED) WITH RISING HEIGHTS AND WARMING TREND. WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE POPS MENTIONED THROUGH DAY5 (THU) WITH MODELS ADVERTISING GENERAL TROFINESS OVER REGION. UPPER RIDGE OVER THE 4-CORNERS AREA RE-ESTABLISHING ITSELF TOWARD THE END OF THE PERIOD...FOR TYPICAL WARM DRY CONDITIONS. MSJ .MSO...NONE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heat in Illinois, July 21 to 24, 2001
- Heat in Missouri, July 21 to 24, 2001
- Heat in Wisconsin, July 21 to 22, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Michigan, July 21, 2001
- Flash Flood and Flood in Illinois, July 21, 2001
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Montana, July 21 to 22, 2001
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, July 21, 2001
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, July 21, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, July 21, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Minnesota, July 21, 2001
- Flood in Alaska, July 21 to 23, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Florida, July 21, 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5257201.