1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 May 19, 8:20 AM MST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 920 AM MDT SAT MAY 19 2001 ...UPDATE TO THE ZONES AND CORRECTION TO THE STATE... WLY FLOW ALOFT FORECAST TO INCREASE TODAY. SHORTWAVE THAT WAS OVER N CENTRAL WA AT 12Z IS FORECAST TO RACE ALONG THE CANADIAN BORDER WITH NIVA FORECAST. AXIS OF STRONG JET STREAK NEAR THE CENTRAL B.C. COAST AT 12Z WL MOVE TO NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER THIS AFTERNOON. WITH INCREASING DOWNSLOPE FLOW TODAY AND RELATIVELY STABLE AIRMASS WILL DROP THE MENTION OF PRECIPITATION EXCEPT OVER HILL AND BLAINE COUNTIES. THOSE TWO COUNTIES WILL BE CLOSER TO UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER SRN CANADA SO WILL LEAVE IN 20 PCT POPS THERE BUT INDICATE THE THREAT OF PRECIPITATION WILL BE NEAR THE CANADIAN BORDER. HIGH WIND WARNING IN A PORTION OF THE NW LOOKS OK. LATEST ETA FORECASTS 60 KNOTS OF WIND AT 700 MB AT 18Z BUT DOES DIMINISH 700 MB WINDS A LITTLE BY 00Z. CURRENT HIGH WIND WARNING GOES THROUGH THIS EVENING BUT WILL REWORD IT TO ONLY GO THROUGH EARLY EVENING. THIS WILL AGREE BETTER WITH CURRENT WORDING IN THE ZONES. FOR TONIGHT ANOTHER SHORTWAVE IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE AREA. FLOW WILL BECOME BETTER UPSLOPE AS WINDS TURN MORE TO THE NW. ETA FORECASTS WEAK PIVA WITH THE SHORTWAVE WHILE NGM HAS NIVA. AIRMASS DOES BECOME A LITTLE LESS STABLE. CURRENT 30 PCT POPS LOOK OK. FORECAST HIGHS FOR TODAY LOOK GOOD. BLANK EXTENDED...WILL GENERALLY STICK WITH GOING EXTENDED AS MRF HAS BEEN PRETTY CONSISTENT LAST FEW RUNS AND IN LINE WITH THE EUROPEANS. RAPID RIDGING ON MONDAY FOR A RETURN TO WARM AND DRY WEATHER. CWA STAYS UNDER THE RIDGE MORE OR LESS THROUGH FRIDAY. SOME HINT OF SOUTHWEST FLOW ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. POMEROY GTF NE 067/035 053/035 061 19232 CTB NE 062/034 048/035 055 19232 HLN NE 070/038 053/036 064 19132 BZN BE 068/034 052/032 058 19142 WEY BE 062/030 045/023 055 19052 DLN BE 065/034 055/032 062 19031 HVR NE 075/036 054/037 065 19232 LWT NE 066/034 049/031 055 19232
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sweetgrass Port-of-Entry (US Customs)...Winds caused dust storm with near zero visibility which caused a 5 car accident on Interstate Highway 15...Damage total includes automobile damage and injuries.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, May 2001
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: 5249966.