Montana, 2001

Flash Flood and Hail in Montana, July 26, 2001

July 26, 2001 · NWS BYZ · 13 events in 10 counties and zones

12 hail, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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 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 26, 8:05 AM MST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 8:05 AM MST, 3 hours 55 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
905 AM MDT THU JUL 26 2001

.TDY AND FRI...
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY DEVELOPED THIS MORNING NORTH OF BILLINGS.
WEAK WAVE MOVING INTO NORTHEAST MONTANA. ETA GRABS ONTO ANOTHER WAVE AND
PUSHES IT INTO SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. CAPES HIGHS
AND LIS LOW. 12Z ETA HAVE EAST INFLOW OVER THE EAST HALF OF THE AREA.
DEWPOINTS ALREADY IN THE 60S FROM BILLINGS EAST. LIKE THE IDEA OF SEVERE
WHERE IT IS...AND WILL KEEP IT. MONSOONAL MOISTURE BEING DRAWN INTO THE
FORECAST AREA FROM UTAH AND WYOMING. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES OF 1.3
INCHES AT RAPID CITY AT 12Z. EAST FLOW SHOULD KEEP VALUES HIGH OVER THE
EAST HALF OF THE AREA. WILL INCLUDE HEAVY RAIN IN THE ZONES FIRST AND
SECOND PERIOD. TEMPERATURES LOOK ON TRACK. WILL UPDATE. HUMPHREY

.SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...WED...
THINGS ARE STILL LOOKING IMPRESSIVE FOR SATURDAY WITH PRELIMINARY
LIFTED INDICES ON THE AVN INDICATING -9 AND LAPSE RATES OVER 9C/KM FROM
700-500 MB.  WITH PWS REMAINING IN THE .75 TO 1.00 RANGE AND
FAVORABLE WIND PROFILES...FRONTAL LIFT AND HEIGHT FALLS DUE TO A STRONG
PACIFIC SHORTWAVE SWINGING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE STATE...A
SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EVENT APPEARS TO BE TAKING SHAPE. LATEST
AVN CONTINUES TO KEEP SOUTHWEST FLOW IN THE PATTERN WITH A NEW UPPER
LOW DIGGING INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. NO CHANGES. BORSUM

    TDY FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 085 058/088 062/091 059/084 062/087 060/085 058/083
    4/T 42/T    34/T    43/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
LVM 085 054/087 059/088 056/081 059/084 057/082 057/080
    3/T 32/T    34/T    43/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
HDN 087 058/090 061/093 057/086 060/089 058/087 056/085
    4/T 42/T    34/T    43/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
MLS 086 062/088 064/094 064/087 064/090 062/088 060/086
    4/T 60/U    34/T    43/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
4BQ 087 062/089 063/093 063/086 063/089 061/087 059/085
    4/T 60/U    34/T    43/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
BHK 086 061/087 061/091 060/084 060/087 059/085 057/083
    4/T 60/U    34/T    43/T    33/T    33/T    33/T
SHR 087 058/089 059/091 057/085 059/088 057/086 055/084
    4/T 40/U    34/T    43/T    33/T    33/T    33/T

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 hail, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Golden Valley

When
July 26, 12:00 PM MST
Where
Golden Valley County, 25 mi N of Ryegate
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
45.767, -109.783

Water covered a 1 mile stretch of roadway

Hail, Musselshell

When
July 26, 12:30 PM MST
Where
Musselshell County, 25 mi NW of Roundup
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.100, -106.250

Hail completed covered the ground

Hail, Golden Valley

When
July 26, 12:45 PM MST
Where
Golden Valley County, 10 mi NW of Ryegate
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.667, -104.883

Hail, Musselshell

When
July 26, 12:50 PM MST
Where
Musselshell County, 20 mi NW of Roundup
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.400, -109.817

Hail completly covered the ground

Hail, Yellowstone

When
July 26, 2:00 PM MST
Where
Yellowstone County, 5 mi N of Pompeys Pillar
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.937, -108.274 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Treasure

When
July 26, 2:48 PM MST
Where
Treasure County, 4 mi N of Hysham
Measured
2.5 in hail
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
46.700, -108.900

Hail, Rosebud

When
July 26, 3:15 PM MST
Where
Rosebud County, 10 mi W of Sumatra
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.400, -109.400

Hail, Rosebud

When
July 26, 3:20 PM MST
Where
Rosebud County, 10 mi SE of Ingomar
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.650, -108.833

Hail, Carbon

When
July 26, 5:30 PM MST
Where
Carbon County, Roscoe
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.067, -107.950

Hail, Sweet Grass

When
July 26, 5:45 PM MST
Where
Sweet Grass County, Greycliff
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.350, -107.233

Hail completely covered the ground

Hail, Stillwater

When
July 26, 6:15 PM MST
Where
Stillwater County, 4 mi S of Nye
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.350, -109.500

Hail, Powder River

When
July 26, 6:30 PM MST
Where
Powder River County, 9 mi SW of Otter
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.617, -107.767

Hail, Fallon

When
July 26, 7:00 PM MST
Where
Fallon County, 25 mi NW of Plevna
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.483, -107.217

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.

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: 5259507, 5259508, 5259509, 5259510, 5258071, 5258072, 5258073, 5258074, 5258075, 5258076, 5258079, 5258077, 5258078.