Montana, 2001

Flash Flooding and Hail in Montana, July 24 to 25, 2001

July 24 to 25, 2001 · NWS GGW · 27 events in 5 counties and zones

17 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
$10,000
Crop damage
$50,000
Events
27

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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 24, 1:25 PM MST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 1:25 PM MST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
225 PM MDT TUE JUL 24 2001

WATER VAPOR SHOWING ONE SHORTWAVE EXITING E MT THIS AFTERNOON...WHILE A
MORE VIGOROUS SYSTEM WAS DIGGING ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA. THIS SYSTEM
WILL BE THE NEXT AND PROBABLY THE BIGGEST WEATHER MAKER ACROSS NE MT
THROUGH THIS FORECAST CYCLE.

SATELLITE AND SFC OBSERVATIONS WERE SHOWING A COLD FRONT GETTING ITS
ACT TOGETHER OVER S ALBERTA WITH LOW PRESSURE DRIFTING E ACROSS S
ALBERTA. THE ETA AND AVN SEEM TO HAVE A GOOD HANDLE ON THE CURRENT
SITUATION AS IT DRAGS THIS SYSTEM E TONIGHT...BRINGING AN AREA OF
THUNDERSTORMS TO THE WESTERN ZONES THIS EVENING...THEN TO THE EASTERN
ZONES DURING THE OVERNIGHT. TIMING FOR THUNDERSTORMS FOR EASTERN ZONES
DIFFICULT HOWEVER...AS THERE CURRENTLY ARE STORMS FIRING DUE TO THE
EXITING DISTURBANCE.

THE FRONT STALLS OVER THE EASTERN ZONES WEDNESDAY...ALLOWING
FOR A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. SPC HIGHLIGHTS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE
STORMS ACROSS A GOOD PORTION OF THIS AREA. WILL HOLD OFF ON MENTIONING
SEVERE POTENTIAL.

ON THURSDAY...THE UPPER FLOW BEGINS TO VEER AS A WEAK DISTURBANCE
DROPS INTO THE TROF OVER W MT. LIKE WED...BEST CHANCE OF STORMS WILL BE
OVER THE E ZONES.  JAMBA

EXTENDED...MODELS AGREE ON GENERAL PATTERN FOR DAYS 3 THROUGH 7.
WILL GO WITH AVN/MRF SINCE AVN MOST CLOSELY RESEMBLES ETA IN SHORT
TERM. MAIN CHG TO FORECAST WILL BE TO INTRODUCE TSTORMS INTO FCST
FOR SATURDAY. FRI SHOULD STAY DRY WITH WEAK RIDGING BETWEEN EXITING
SYSTEM AND PAC NW TROF. PACNW TROF SWINGS IN JUST AT THE WRONG TIME
(SAT PM) WITH A LOT OF INSTABILITY SO TS A GOOD BET WITH POSSIBLE
SVR WX EPISODE SAT EVE/NGT. PATTERN FOR SUN-TUE LOOKS TO BE ONE OF
RIDGE BLDG OFF WEST COAST WITH LONG WAVE TROF MOVING INLAND. WILL
KEEP UNSETTLED WX FOR SUN-TUE.        WRIGHT

KGGW 057/083 055/084 057/087 057/089 056/084 055/083 054/082
      BBBTTTT  765222/9526<333
KGDV 057/081 056/083 057/086 056/088 057/082 055/083 054/079
      BBBTTTT  764323/9526333

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:39 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

17 hail, 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Phillips

When
July 24, 2:40 PM MST
Where
Phillips County, 20 mi N of Saco
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.750, -107.333

Hail, Phillips

When
July 24, 3:00 PM MST
Where
Phillips County, 21 mi N of Saco
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.767, -107.333

Hail, Valley

When
July 24, 4:40 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 2 mi S of Hinsdale
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.367, -107.083

Hail, Valley

When
July 24, 5:05 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 10 mi W of Glasgow
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.200, -106.850

Flash Flood, Valley

When
July 24, 5:10 PM MST to July 25, 1:00 AM MST
Where
Valley County, 4 mi S of Hinsdale
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.365, -106.667 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Intense rainfall of 3 to 4 inches, over an area that had already received a lot of rain during the previous two weeks, caused some county roads to have flooding problems. A storm spotter reported 8-10 inches of water flowing over road south of Hinsdale, and the emergency manager stated that there were problems with portions of the roads getting washed out.

Hail, Valley

When
July 24, 6:10 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 4 mi SE of Glasgow
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.167, -106.567

Hail, Valley

When
July 24, 6:15 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 6 mi SE of Glasgow
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.133, -106.533

Hail, Valley

When
July 24, 6:17 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 1 mi SW of Glasgow
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates
48.183, -106.650

Hail, Valley

When
July 24, 6:17 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 5 mi SW of Ft Peck
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.967, -106.533

Hail, Valley

When
July 24, 6:25 PM MST
Where
Valley County, Ft Peck
Measured
1.25 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.017, -106.450

Hail, McCone

When
July 24, 6:32 PM MST
Where
McCone County, 42 mi NW of Circle
Measured
2.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.850, -106.233

Thunderstorm Wind, Valley

When
July 24, 6:40 PM MST to 6:46 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 1 mi SW of Glasgow
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.183, -106.650

Downburst winds snapped 10 power poles south of Glasgow, causing a power outage for much of the area for several hours.

Hail, McCone

When
July 24, 7:30 PM MST to 7:45 PM MST
Where
McCone County, 20 mi W of Vida
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.833, -105.933

Thunderstorm Wind, Valley

When
July 24, 8:44 PM MST
Where
Valley County, Ft Peck
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.017, -106.450

Thunderstorm Wind, McCone

When
July 24, 8:56 PM MST
Where
McCone County, 40 mi NW of Circle
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
47.833, -106.200

Thunderstorm Wind, Valley

When
July 24, 8:57 PM MST
Where
Valley County, Ft Peck
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.017, -106.450

Hail, Garfield

When
July 24, 9:24 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 43 mi NE of Jordan
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.750, -106.233

Flash Flood, Garfield

When
July 24, 9:30 PM MST to July 25, 1:00 AM MST
Where
Garfield County, 43 mi NE of Jordan
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Intense rainfall of 3 to 4 inches, in a location that had received a lot of rain in the previous two weeks caused ditches to fill up and overflow onto county roads. A storm spotter reported water over road in 5 locations throughout northeastern Garfield County, and small streams were flowing out of their banks.

Hail, Garfield

When
July 24, 9:39 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 43 mi NE of Jordan
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.750, -106.233

Hail, Garfield

When
July 24, 9:55 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 43 mi NE of Jordan
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.750, -106.233

Thunderstorm Wind, Garfield

When
July 24, 10:39 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 43 mi NE of Jordan
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.750, -106.233

Thunderstorm Wind, Dawson

When
July 24, 10:40 PM MST
Where
Dawson County, 10 mi SW of Richey
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.550, -105.217

Hail, Garfield

When
July 24, 11:32 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 43 mi NE of Jordan
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.750, -106.233

Hail, Dawson

When
July 25, 1:30 AM MST
Where
Dawson County, 12 mi S of Lindsay
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.050, -105.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Dawson

When
July 25, 1:30 AM MST
Where
Dawson County, 12 mi S of Lindsay
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.050, -105.150

Flash Flood, Dawson

When
July 25, 2:00 AM MST to 5:00 AM MST
Where
Dawson County, 5 mi SW of Glendive
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.266, -104.899 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Intense rainfall of 2 to 3 inches fell over an area that had received a lot of rain over the previous two weeks. A storm spotter reported water over County Road 261 with water around a foot deep.

Hail, Dawson

When
July 25, 2:05 AM MST
Where
Dawson County, 5 mi SW of Glendive
Measured
0.88 in hail
Crop damage
$50,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.050, -104.817

A storm spotter reported that he had 100 percent crop loss from hail that piled up to two feet deep. He had several hundred acres of crops that were destroyed.

What these are

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

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: 5261512, 5261513, 5261514, 5261515, 5261601, 5261516, 5261517, 5261518, 5261519, 5261520, 5261521, 5261522, 5261523, 5261524, 5261526, 5261527, 5261525, 5261602, 5261528, 5261529, 5261530, 5261531, 5261532, 5261533, 5261599, 5261603, 5261600.