Montana, 2001

Hail and Damaging Wind in Montana, June 17, 2001

June 17, 2001 · NWS GGW · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A storm that formed in Roosevelt County traveled to the southeast and brought large hail and damaging winds across northeastern Richland County. Several large grain bins had the tops blown off, and a large pine tree was snapped in half.

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
$50,000
Crop damage
$50,000
Events
2

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 GGW wrote it up.

A storm that formed in Roosevelt County traveled to the southeast and brought large hail and damaging winds across northeastern Richland County. Several large grain bins had the tops blown off, and a large pine tree was snapped in half. Rows of trees had all of their leaves stripped off. Some vehicles and homes had dents and broken windows from the forceful combination of large hail and high winds. Several hundred acres of crops were also 50-100 percent hailed out. One rancher had a cow killed by a lightning strike.

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 Jun 17, 1:40 PM MST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 1:40 PM MST, 30 minutes before
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
240 PM MDT SUN JUN 17 2001

BEST CHANCE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TONIGHT WILL BE IN
THE SOUTHEAST ZONES. DEW POINTS IN THE LOWER 50S HAVE RESULTED IN
CAPES OF 1500-2000 J/KG. A SURFACE TROUGH SLOWLY MOVING EAST THROUGH
THAT AREA SHOULD INITIATE CONVECTION LATER THIS AFTERNOON. MID LEVEL
WINDS TO 55 KTS WILL PROVIDE GOOD SHEAR WITH FORECASTED HODOGRAPHS
SUGGESTING POSSIBLE SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT. WILL CONTINUE THE MENTION
OF SEVERE STORMS IN THAT AREA TONIGHT.

WATER VAPOR SHOWS A COMPLEX PATTERN OVER REGION THIS AFTERNOON. FAST
WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES WITH A WAVE MOVING THROUGH SOUTHERN
ALBERTA AND A TROUGH MOVING INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. ETA/AVN DID
A POOR JOB WITH THE STRENGTH OF THE PACIFIC TROUGH. AVN POINTS AT A
POSSIBLE MCS DEVELOPMENT OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA LATE TONIGHT WHICH
MOVES INTO SOUTHEAST MONTANA BY 12Z. WILL KEEP POPS OUT FOR THE
ENTIRE AREA OVERNIGHT WITH HIGHER POPS IN THE SOUTHERN ZONES.

TOMORROW WILL BE COOLER WITH COLD AIR ADVECTION. CONVECTIVE
TEMPERATURES WILL BE REACHED BY AFTERNOON FOR MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES
AND SHOWERY PRECIPITATION. CONVECTION WILL DIMINISH MONDAY EVENING
WITH LOSS OF DYNAMICS AND DIURNAL HEATING. FLOW ALOFT BECOMES
NORTHWEST TUESDAY FOR DRY CONDITIONS AND WARMER TEMPERATURES.
WATERHOUSE

EXTENDED...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE STARTS BUILDING INTO MT ON WED WITH
RIDGE AXIS PROGGED OVER ERN MT ON FRI. WED AND THU WILL BE DRY WITH
A WARMING TREND. FLOW ALOFT BECOME SW FOR NEXT WEEKEND. MRF MOVES A
COLD FRONT THRU ERN MT FRIDAY NIGHT AND SAT MORNING. WILL KEEP
FRIDAY DRY AND WARM AND MENTION A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FOR SAT.
THEN A SHORTWAVE ON SW FLOW ALOFT FOLLOWS LATE SAT AND EARLY SUN.
WILL ALSO MENTION A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON SUN.    FORRESTER

KGGW 048/065 043/072 045/073 049/078 053/085 054/082 054/079         2
      TBBUBTW  994320/7910033
KGDV 050/065 042/070 047/071 050/080 053/086 054/082 055/084
      TBBUBTW  995420/7910133

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:11 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Roosevelt

When
June 17, 2:10 PM MST
Where
Roosevelt County, 7 mi ESE of Wolf Pt
Measured
52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.067, -105.517

Hail, Richland

When
June 17, 3:45 PM MST to 4:20 PM MST
Where
Richland County, 25 mi NW of Sidney
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$50,000
Crop damage
$50,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
47.950, -104.533

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.
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, June 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: 5252305, 5252306.