Montana, 2001

Damaging Wind in Montana, July 28, 2001

July 28, 2001 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, 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
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 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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 28, 1:45 PM MST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 1:45 PM MST, 30 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
245 PM MDT SAT JUL 28 2001

STRONG NEGATIVELY-TILTED UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SWINGING INTO NORTHERN
IDAHO/WESTERN MT THIS AFTERNOON. TROUGH WILL QUICKLY SWEEP ACROSS NRN
MT AND INTO SRN SASK TONIGHT AS IT ENCOUNTERS STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER
GREAT PLAINS. ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL LIKEWISE RAPIDLY MOVE
ACROSS STATE. DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT AHEAD OF TROUGH TOGETHER WITH
FRONT LEFT QUADRANT OF UPPER JET OVER CENTRAL MONTANA THIS EVENING
WILL ENHANCE UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION NE HALF OF GTF CWFA. PRE-FRONTAL
SURFACE TROUGH OVER CENTRAL MONTANA PROVIDING FOCUS FOR CONVERGENCE.
WARM...AND SLIGHTLY MOIST...SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER ERN MT WILL
DESTABILIZE THE AIRMASS AHEAD OF COLD FRONT. MEANWHILE...COOL AIR
BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WILL ENHANCE DOWNWARD MOTION RESULTING IN GOOD
LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG FRONT...FURTHER ENHANCING THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT.

SPECIAL 18Z TFX SOUNDING SHOWS INVERTED-V CONFIGURATION INDICATIVE OF
STRONG WINDS AND BELIEVE GREATEST THREAT WILL BE POSSIBILITY OF
STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS. MOST UNSTABLE AIR WILL BE OVER EASTERN
PORTION OF GTF CWFA...18Z GGW SOUNDING SHOWS GOOD VERTICAL SHEAR AND
INSTABILITY. THEREFORE EXPECT BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER THIS
AREA AND AM CONCERNED WITH POSSIBILITY OF SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT...
PRIMARILY OVER BLAINE AND FERGUS COUNTIES. SPC HAS THIS PORTION
OF GTF CWFA UNDER SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH SEEMS
REASONABLE CONSIDERING CIRCUMSTANCES. RAPID SCAN WILL COMMENCE AT 21Z
AND EXPECT WATCH TO BE FORTHCOMING. BEHIND THE FRONT...DAYTIME HIGH
TEMPERATURES COOL 10 TO 15 DEGREES SUNDAY AND THEN CHANGE LITTLE
MONDAY.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...MODELS ARE IS BASIC AGREEMENT IN THE OVERALL
PATTERN KEEPING THE RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND GENERAL
TROUGHING OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THIS WILL KEEP THE AREA IN
THE PERSISTENT SOUTHWEST FLOW. DAY 3 LOOKS UNSETTLED ACROSS THE AREA
AS UPPER LEVEL ENERGY SWINGS THROUGH BUT PATTERN FAVORS A DRIER
SCENARIO FOR DAYS 4 AND 5. HOWEVER...THE CHANCE OF AFTERNOON
CONVECTION CAN NOT BE RULED OUT. THE PATTERN RETURNS TO A MORE
FAVORABLE FLOW ON DAYS 6 AND 7 FOR A BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS. FEEL THE BEST SOLUTION WILL BE TO BROAD-BRUSH THE
AREA FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD...PRETTY MUCH WHAT THE GOING FORECAST IS
NOW. TEMPS WILL BE FAIRLY CONSISTENT REGION WIDE.  GOUDSWARD

GTF BB 050/076 047/076 045 06300
CTB BB 050/072 045/070 044 06100
HLN BB 052/078 048/078 047 06211
BZN BB 044/078 042/076 044 06311
WEY BB 040/070 038/070 040 06200
DLN BB 043/075 042/075 044 06210
HVR BB 050/080 048/077 046 06611
2LWT BB 047/074 045/074 045 06611

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Judith Basin

When
July 28, 2:15 PM MST
Where
Judith Basin County, Geyser
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.250, -110.500

Actual spotter location Geyser 1 E.

What these are

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: 5260679.