Montana, 2001

Tornadoes and Hail in Montana, July 25, 2001

July 25, 2001 · NWS BYZ · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

2 tornado, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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
3

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 24, 8:40 PM MST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 8:40 PM MST, 4 hours 30 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
940 PM MDT TUE JUL 24 2001

.WED AND THU...
WILL BE MAKING SOME UPDATES SINCE CONVECTION IS STARTING TO BREAK OUT
BILLINGS WEST. THE CONVECTION APPEARS TO BE THE RESULT OF A WEAK UPPER
DISTURBANCE INTERACTING WITH A CONVERGENT ZONE...AS BILLINGS DEW POINT
HAS BEEN INCREASING THIS EVENING...ALONG WITH THE DEPTH OF THE EAST
WIND ACCORDING TO THE VAD PROFILE. STROBIN

.FRI...SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...
MRF LOOKS LIKE THE ODD MODEL OUT THIS RUN COMPARED TO YESTERDAY. MAIN
DIFFERENCES CONTINUE TO BE NEXT TROUGH THAT DIGS INTO PACIFIC
NORTHWEST SATURDAY. MRF IS THE MOST PROGRESSIVE WITH THIS TROUGH...
MOVING IT OVER MONTANA SUNDAY AND MONDAY. ECMWF AND UKMET BRING THE
TROUGH TO WESTERN MONTANA THEN SHEAR ENERGY OFF TO THE NORTH WITH MEAN
TROUGH REMAINING OVER WEST COAST...KEEPING US WARM AND UNSETTLED
SOUTHWEST FLOW. ECMWF/UKMET HAVE 500 MB HEIGHTS OF 588 OVER SOUTHEAST
MONTANA WITH MRF AROUND 573. WITH THIS IN MIND WILL BE GOING 5-10
DEGREES WARMER THAN MRF. ONLY DAY THAT LOOKS POSSIBLY DRY IS FRIDAY...
BUT WITH WESTERLY FLOW OVER AREA SO NO REASON TO BREAK DAY OUT. RASCH

    WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 057/085 058/086 062/085 063/088 059/083 062/088 060/085
    22/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
LVM 048/084 053/085 057/083 058/085 055/080 058/083 056/081
    22/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
HDN 054/087 058/089 060/087 061/090 057/085 060/090 058/087
    22/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
MLS 059/087 062/087 062/088 064/090 063/085 064/090 063/088
    22/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
4BQ 058/086 060/086 061/087 063/089 062/084 063/089 062/087
    42/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
BHK 057/086 059/086 059/086 061/088 060/083 060/088 061/086
    42/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
SHR 054/088 057/088 058/085 059/088 059/086 059/088 058/085
    22/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 144 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:11 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Rosebud

When
July 25, 1:10 AM MST
Where
Rosebud County, 9 mi SW of Forsyth
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.167, -106.800

Tornado, Fallon

When
July 25, 6:20 PM MST
Where
Fallon County, 13 mi N of Baker
Rating
F2
Path length
2 mi
Path width
200 yd
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.550, -104.283

NWS Post-Storm Damage Assessment Team determined F2 tornado 200 yards wide with a path length of 2 miles. It was on the ground for 15 minutes over open range west of State Highway 7.

Tornado, Fallon

When
July 25, 6:50 PM MST
Where
Fallon County, 8 mi NE of Baker
Rating
F1
Path length
2 mi
Path width
100 yd
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.450, -104.167

NWS Post-Storm Damage Assessment Team determined F1 tornado 100 yards wide with a path length of 3/4 of a mile and was on the ground for 5 minutes. Around 6:45 p.m. on July 25th...a supercell thunderstorm developed in Prairie County, Montana and moved southeast into Fallon County inside the WFO Billings County Warning Area. A WFO Billings Post-Storm Damage Assessment Team confirmed that an F2 tornado occurred 13 miles north of Baker, Montana in Fallon County at 7:20 p.m. on July 25, 2001. The tornado moved in a nearly north to south direction and remained just west of Montana Highway 7. The tornado was 200 yards wide, 2 miles long, and was on the ground for approximately 15 minutes. The tornado remained over open range while on the ground and caused no property damage. F2 tornadoes produce wind speeds from 113 to 157 mph. A second tornado developed after the first tornado dissipated. This second tornado occurred 8 miles northeast of Baker, Montana in Fallon County at 7:50 p.m. on July 25, 2001. The tornado moved in a northwest to southeast direction and was located near Johnny Creek. The tornado was 100 yards wide, 3/4 of a mile long, and was on the ground for approximately 5 minutes. The tornado remained over open range while on the ground and caused no property damage. F1 tornadoes produce wind speeds from 73 to 112 mph.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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 historyThe tornado archive for Montana, 2001Warnings 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: 5259504, 5259505, 5259506.