Strong cold front moved through west central Montana during the evening hours producing damaging winds in the Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys. Wind gusts up to 75 mph near Hamilton, caused medium to large trees to fall on power lines, which started small grass fires.
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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 episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
Strong cold front moved through west central Montana during the evening hours producing damaging winds in the Missoula and Bitterroot Valleys. Wind gusts up to 75 mph near Hamilton, caused medium to large trees to fall on power lines, which started small grass fires. Power outages were reported throughout the Bitterroot Valley. 2 miles south of Missoula, wind gusts to 60 mph caused siding to be torn off homes and damage to patio roof. 15 miles south of Clinton up Rock Creek, large branches were blown off trees. Strong winds caused the Historic Medicine Tree south of Conner to brake off 20 feet above its base, with its trunk spilled across U.S. 93. Traffic was blocked in both directions until fire crews responded and moved it away.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 25, 2:16 PM MST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
316 PM MDT TUE SEP 25 2001
CORRECTED HIGHLIGHT SECTION BELOW
.SHORT TERM...DYNAMIC UPPER LOW OVER SOUTH CENTRAL OR EJECTS
NORTHWARD TONIGHT BRINGING MOISTURE AND DIFFLUENCE ALOFT INTO THE
CWA. EXPECT SHOWERS TO INCREASE ACROSS THE REGION WHILE THE AIR MASS
REMAINS UNSTABLE OVERNIGHT...THUNDERSTORMS MAY EVEN PERSIST IN THE
NORTH NEAR COLD POOL ALOFT TOWARD SUNRISE. MAIN PROBLEM IS DRY AIR AT
LOWER LEVELS LEADING TO EVAPORATION AND GUSTY WINDS DURING THE EARLY
EVENING HOURS. ALREADY SEEING GUSTS NEAR 50 MPH IN SOUTHWEST MT AT
20Z ALONG LEADING BAND OF CLOUDS AND SHOWERS ALOFT. STRONG SURFACE
LOW WITH PRESSURE COUPLET IN EASTERN WA AND A SLOW MOVING COOL FRONT
ACROSS CENTRAL ID...EVENTUALLY PUSH THROUGH WESTERN MT LATER THIS
EVENING. SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL BE SHIFTING TO WEST. AIR MASS MOISTENS
ENOUGH TO SEE MEASURABLE PRECIP ACROSS CLEARWATER MOUNTAIN ZONES INTO
NORTHWEST MT. LINGERING EFFECTS FROM WEAKENING TROUGH FOR A CHANCE OF
MORNING SHOWERS IN THE NORTH...THEN A DRYING TREND. GLANCING BLOW OF
NEXT SHORTWAVE IN SOUTHWEST FLOW FOR SLIGHT CHANCE WORDING NEAR THE
ID PANHANDLE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE AREA THURSDAY
AS AN UPPER LOW DEEPENS OFF THE WEST COAST. AVN A LITTLE STRONGER
WITH THE LOW COMPARED TO ETA. WILL BUMP UP TO A CHANCE ON FRIDAY AS
THIS SYSTEM MOVES INLAND. BOLDT
.LONG TERM...MODELS NOW ALL IN AGREEMENT REBUILDING STRONG RIDGE
OVER THE WEST EARLY NEXT WEEK. TAIL END OF SHORTWAVE EXITS SATURDAY
MORNING WITH SOME LINGERING CLOUD COVER...THEN CLEAR WITH WARM UP
SUNDAY AS THICKNESSES BACK UP NEAR 573. BY TUE...MRF HINTS AT
FLATTENING RIDGE...BUT STILL DRY WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS. SULLIVAN
.MSO...RED FLAG WARNING FOR ALL FIRE WEATHER ZONES 102 THROUGH 111
TONIGHT.
WIND ADVISORY MT ZONES 5>7 AND ID ZONES 6>10 THIS EVENING
...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB EBC 046/069 038/072 040/073 28731014
BUUB 041/074 039/080 040/080 042/075 3600000000
FCA EBE 045/069 036/070 038/071 28730004
BUUB 039/073 037/078 039/078 041/074 3600000000
POL BBE 053/070 048/071 048/072 28720004
BUUB 048/072 044/076 045/076 047/074 3600000000
MSO BBE 046/072 038/075 040/074 28710003
BUUB 041/075 039/080 040/080 042/077 3600000000
HMM BBE 046/072 039/075 042/075 28710002
BUUB 042/076 040/081 042/081 044/078 3600000000
BTM BBB 040/071 033/074 036/075 28300001
BUUB 037/073 033/077 034/077 037/074 3600000000
ORO BBE 054/076 052/080 053/078 28700003
BUUB 052/080 048/085 050/085 052/082 3600000000
GRV BBE 050/072 046/075 047/074 28700003
BUUB 046/075 043/080 045/080 048/077 3600000000
SMN BBB 040/073 036/076 039/075 28300001
BUUB 040/075 035/079 036/079 039/077 3600000000The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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, September 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: 5267508, 5267510, 5267509.