2 wildfire, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 5, 8:40 AM MST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
940 AM MDT SAT MAY 5 2001
.TDY AND SUN...
MAIN WEATHER FEATURE TODAY WILL BE SURFACE FRONT WHICH HAS PASSED
THROUGH LETHBRIDGE BUT SOUTHERN END'S PROGRESS IS HARD TO DISCERN WITH
MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. LATEST OBS FROM MSO SHOWS RAIN WITH KMSX RADAR
SHOWING HEAVIER SHOWERS SO THIS LOOKS PRETTY CLOSE TO THE FRONT.
WILL BE MAKING A FEW UPDATES THIS MORNING AS A BROAD CLOUD BAND
ASSOCIATED WITH DECENT JET SUPPORT IS ALREADY WORKING ITS WAY INTO THE
WESTERN ZONES. WILL BE TRIMMING BACK TEMPS IN THE WESTERN ZONES AND
WILL REMOVE THUNDER WORDING AS TIMING IS UNFAVORABLE DUE TO FAIRLY
EARLY FRONTAL PASSAGE. FRONTAL PUSH THROUGH THE BILLINGS AREA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND TO THE EAST AND SOUTH LOOKS PRETTY STRONG WITH LATEST ETA
CONTINUING TO SHOW 11 MB PRESSURE RISES. NOT NEARLY AS MUCH UPPER LEVEL
SUPPORT AS MONDAY NIGHT'S FRONT BUT TIMING WITH MAX HEATING IS
FAVORABLE AND INSTABILITY PARAMETERS HAVE SLOWLY BE INCREASING WITH
EACH MODEL RUN. LATEST ETA FOUS GUIDANCE HAS INCREASED POST FRONTAL QPF
FROM .09 TO .24 FROM 00Z-06Z AT BILLINGS WITH VERTICAL MOTION PROGS
GENERATING A STRONG BULLSEYE. WILL INCREASE POPS TONIGHT FOR EASTERN
HALF OF FORECAST ZONES AND ALSO INTRODUCE HIGHER WIND GUSTS INTO ZONES
WITH SOME BLOWING DUST. BORSUM
.MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
COMPARISONS BETWEEN THE 05/00Z GLOBAL CONFIGURATION OF THE CANADIAN
(GEM) MODEL...05/00Z AVN MODEL...AND THE 04/12Z ECMWF INDICATE
SIMILARITIES THRU TUESDAY. AFTERWARDS...THERE IS SOME DIVERGENCE WITH
THE CANADIAN SOLUTION BETWEEN THE OTHER MODELS. THE 05/00Z AVN HAS COME
AROUND TO A MUCH LESS BLOCKY PATTERN SIMILAR TO THE ECMWF. RIDGING
BUILDS INTO THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST BY TUESDAY...WITH A TROF OFF THE
PACIFIC NW COAST. ON WEDNESDAY...RIDGE SHIFTS INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS
WITH A CLOSED UPPER LEVEL HIGH NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS. THE MAIN TROF
MOVES ONSHORE. IT APPEARS THAT A SHORTWAVE GETS EJECTED FROM THE PARENT
TROF INTO THE STATE IN THE SW FLOW ALOFT. AT THE SAME TIME...MID LEVEL
MOISTURE MOVES INTO THE STATE FROM THE PACIFIC...COMBINED WITH THE
SHORTWAVE COULD TRIGGER SOME CONVECTION ON WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURE
FORECAST ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY MIGHT BE A BIT COOL SINCE MIX DOWN
TEMPERATURES ARE ABOUT 5 TO 10 DEGREES WARMER. WILL NOT CHANGE THE
FORECAST NOW...WILL LET LATER SHIFTS LOOK AT MORE MODEL RUNS. STROBIN
TDY SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 071 039/060 039/065 042/073 044/066 041/062 039/063
0/B 40/B 11/B 11/B 22/B 33/W 22/B
LVM 070 038/060 039/065 041/073 043/066 040/062 039/063
2/N 20/B 11/B 11/B 22/B 33/W 22/B
HDN 073 038/061 038/066 040/074 042/067 040/063 038/064
0/B 40/B 11/B 11/B 22/B 33/W 22/B
MLS 075 041/058 040/066 042/074 042/068 043/064 041/066
0/B 30/N 11/B 11/B 12/B 33/W 22/B
4BQ 075 044/059 039/064 040/073 042/067 039/063 039/064
0/B 30/N 11/B 11/B 12/B 33/W 22/B
BHK 074 042/056 038/063 040/072 041/066 037/062 037/063
0/B 30/WN 11/B 11/B 12/B 33/W 22/B
SHR 070 038/059 035/064 038/072 036/064 037/061 035/062
0/B 40/B 11/B 11/B 22/B 33/W 22/BThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
Svenson wildfire burned 1500 acres of land after a prescribed burn ignited by a private land owner got out of control.
Corral Creek 2 wildfire burned approximately 400 acres east of Lodge Grass Montana.
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: 5234928, 5234929.