Montana, 2002

High Wind in Montana, August 16, 2002

August 16, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 1:22 PM MST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 1:22 PM MST, 2 hours 9 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
222 PM MDT FRI AUG 16 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SAT AND SUN...

COLD FRONT MARCHING ACROSS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA. A FEW SHOWERS OVER
EXTREME NORTHEAST ZONES AND WILL KEEP ISOLATED POPS GOING THERE.
EXPECTED WINDS TO DECREASE RAPIDLY THIS EVENING PER GOING FORECAST.
WILL CONTINUE HIGH WIND AND RED FLAG WARNINGS THROUGH EARLY THIS
EVENING. CHANCE OF RECORD LOW TEMPERATURES CONTINUES TONIGHT AND WILL
WORD THIS IN ZONES. SATURDAY...WESTERLY FLOW BUILDS INTO AREA WITH
THICKNESS AND LOW LEVEL TEMPERATURES REBOUNDING NICELY FOR 70S TO LOW
80S. WINDS WILL BE MUCH LESS...MAINLY IN THE 10 TO 20 MPH RANGE.
SUNDAY...SPLITTING UPPER WAVE TO MOVE ACROSS AREA. BOTH ETA AND AVN
DRY WITH THE WAVE AND ONLY BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES AND A WIND
SHIFT. RASCH

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
WEAK RIDGING TO TAKE PLACE ON MONDAY AND SHOULD RESULT IN A SLIGHTLY
WARMER DAY THAN SUNDAY. WEAKENING UPPER TROUGH MOVES THROUGH ON TUESDAY
COOLING THINGS DOWN SLIGHTLY. MODELS TRYING TO CUT OFF UPPER LOW OVER
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA BY EARLY TUESDAY RETURNING US TO SOUTHWEST FLOW
ALOFT FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY ALONG WITH SOME WARMER AIR. MODELS
TRYING TO BRING UP SOME MONSOONAL MOISTURE IN THE SOUTHWEST FLOW...BUT
THAT APPEARS TO BE LIMITED SO WILL NOT CHANGE GOING DRY FORECAST FOR
TUESDAY OR WEDNESDAY. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY LOOK DRY AS WELL AS NORTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT RETURNS SOME COOLER AIR TO THE FORECAST AREA. MACZKO

    SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 044/079 049/075 046/080 050/079 050/081 053/076 050/076
    00/U    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
LVM 039/081 045/077 042/076 046/075 047/076 049/074 047/074
    00/U    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
HDN 042/081 048/075 045/081 050/080 051/082 053/078 051/078
    00/U    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
MLS 045/078 049/074 046/080 051/079 048/080 052/076 048/076
    20/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
4BQ 044/079 049/074 044/079 049/078 051/079 053/077 051/077
    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
BHK 043/075 047/072 041/078 046/077 050/079 051/074 050/074
    20/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
SHR 040/078 045/074 044/080 047/079 048/081 052/077 048/077
    00/U    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    00/B

.BYZ...
MT...HIGH WIND WARNING THIS EVENING SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA.

WY...HIGH WIND WARNING THIS EVENING FOR SHERIDAN COUNTY WYOMING.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Powder River

When
August 16, 3:31 PM MST
Where
Powder River forecast zone
Measured
59 kt (68 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.395, -105.630 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

59 mph non-thunderstorm wind reported by Bradshaw Creek RAWS

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, August 2002

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: 5315084.