A strong Canadian cold front brought high winds to western Montana, especially at higher elevations and exposed valley locations, mainly during the morning hours. Wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph were common with the strongest estimated wind speed of 80 mph near Polson.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
A strong Canadian cold front brought high winds to western Montana, especially at higher elevations and exposed valley locations, mainly during the morning hours. Wind gusts of 40 to 60 mph were common with the strongest estimated wind speed of 80 mph near Polson. Damage resulted mainly from fallen trees and power lines. Trees fell on a house and several cars in Evergreen. Similar damage was reported in Bigfork, Whitefish, Kalispell, Columbia Falls, and Eureka. Winds created 8 to 12 foot waves near the shore in Polson, resulting in numerous boats being damaged on the south shore of Flathead Lake. One boat came loose from its mooring and split in two sections after hitting a concrete seawall.
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 Aug 16, 5:40 AM MST, 20 minutes earlier.
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
640 AM MDT FRI AUG 16 2002
UPDATED TO LOWER POPS AT KALISPELL
.SHORT TERM...STRONG AND FAST MOVING SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL DROP
SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE CWA THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON. THE
MAIN CONCERN WILL BE WINDS WITH A 110KT JET OVERHEAD...AND A
DEVELOPING NORTHWEST SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT BEHIND THE ASSOCIATED
COLD FRONT. LAPSE RATES DO NOT LOOK IMPRESSIVE...BUT LIGHTING IN
SOUTHERN B.C. VERIFIES INSTABILITY WITH THESE FEATURES. THIS WILL
HELP MIX DOWN STRONGER MID LEVEL WINDS. WILL MAINTAIN WIND
ADVISORY IN THE VALLEYS...AND EXPAND IT TO INCLUDE IDAHO ZONES. MESO
ETA SHOWING 45KTS DOWN TO AROUND 700MB. BELIEVE MOUNTAIN SITES AND
HIGHER PASSES MAY SEE 50-60KT GUSTS...SO WILL UPGRADE HIGH WIND
WATCH FOR THE MOUNTAINS TO A WARNING. SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY WILL BE CONFINED TO THE NORTHWEST THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON.
THE COOL AIR MASS ASSOCIATE WITH THE SHORTWAVE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO
LOWER SNOW LEVELS TO NEAR 6000 FEET IN GLACIER N.P. THIS IS A FAST
MOVING SYSTEM...AND WINDS SHOULD DIE DOWN BY LATE EVENING. THIS WILL
ALLOW FOR UNSEASONABLY COOL TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE
TROUGH WILL PASS OVER THE CWA SATURDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY. THIS
ONE LOOKS TO BE MUCH WEAKER WITH LITTLE MOISTURE.
.LONG TERM...A DRY NORTHWEST FLOW WILL DOMINATE THE PERIOD FOR THE
MOST PART. TWO WEAK WAVES ARE EXPECTED DURING THIS TIME. THE
FIRST...CURRENTLY TIMED AT MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY...LOOKS WEAKER
WITH NEW RUN...AND WILL LIKELY NOT EVEN WARRANT MUCH CLOUD COVER.
THE SECOND WAVE WILL SKIRT THE FAR NORTH WEDNESDAY/WEDNESDAY
NIGHT. SHOWERS FROM THIS FEATURE SHOULD BE CONFINED TO NORTH OF
THE BORDER. THESE WAVES WILL HOWEVER KEEP HEIGHTS SUPPRESSED...
RESULTING IN COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPERATURES. WHITMORE
.MSO...HIGH WIND WARNING MOUNTAINS IDZ005>010...MTZ001>007-043
THROUGH THIS EVENING...
...WIND ADVISORY IDZ005>010...MTZ001>007-043 THROUGH THIS
EVENING...
...RED FLAG WARNING FIRE WEATHER ZONES 104>111
...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB NUB /072 036/077 039/080 3410000
BBBB 040/080 047/082 044/083 050/083 052/ 34000000000
FCA NUB /070 033/074 036/074 3420000
BBBB 037/074 045/076 041/077 046/077 048/ 34000000000
POL NUB /073 042/075 045/077 3410000
BBBB 046/077 050/079 051/080 050/080 052/ 34000000000
MSO NUB /075 039/078 042/078 3400000
BBBU 043/078 047/080 045/081 048/081 050/ 34000000000
HMM NUB /075 040/078 043/076 3400000
UBBU 044/076 046/078 044/079 048/079 050/ 34000000000
BTM NUB /072 035/074 038/071 3400000
UBBU 039/071 043/073 040/074 042/074 044/ 34000000000
ORO NUB /085 049/088 052/084 3400000
BBBU 053/084 055/086 056/087 058/087 060/ 34000000000
GRV NUB /078 043/080 046/076 3400000
UBUU 047/076 051/078 052/079 052/079 054/ 34000000000
SMN NUB /080 040/082 043/077 3400000
UUUU 044/077 045/079 044/080 046/080 048/ 34000000000The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, August 2002
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: 5313843, 5313925, 5313844, 5313926, 5313928, 5313927.