Damaging Winds and High Wind in Montana, August 16, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds and High Wind in Montana, August 16, 2002
Start: 2002-08-16T13:15
End: 2002-08-16T20:18
Location: Montana

August 16, 2002 · NWS GGW · 10 events in 9 counties and zones

8 thunderstorm wind, 2 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

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.

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: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 10

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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 8:10 AM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 8:10 AM MST, 5 hours 5 minutes before

NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
910 AM MDT FRI AUG 16 2002

...LAKE WIND ADVISORY TODAY FOR FORT PECK LAKE...

.SHORT TERM...A WARM FRONT HAS LIFTED NORTHEAST ACROSS CWA WITH A
BAND OF SPRINKLES AND ISOLATED SHOWERS NOW ENTERING SOUTHEAST
SASKATCHEWAN. WARM FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH DEEPENING SURFACE LOW
BETWEEN HAVRE AND GREAT FALLS. STRONG COLD FRONT DROPPING SOUTH
ALONG MONTANA/ALBERTA BORDER WITH STRONG NORTH WINDS EVIDENT ACROSS
SOUTHERN ALBERTA...MORE MODERATE EAST WINDS ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY HAS BEEN POSTED IN ANTICIPATION OF THESE STRONG
NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS THIS AFTERNOON. MODELS THE PAST FEW RUNS
HAVE HAD PROBLEMS TIMING THIS EVENT...WITH OBVIOUS IMPACTS ON
WINDS...SKY CONDITIONS...AND TEMPERATURES. NOT CONFIDENT WITH
CURRENT FORECAST...BUT RELUCTANT AT THIS TIME TO MAKE ANY MORE
CHANGES TO FORECAST. TEMPERATURES MAY BUMP HIGHER THAN FORECAST IN
WARM SECTOR AHEAD OF COLD FRONT...AND STRONG WINDS DELAYED...BUT
WILL ACCEPT THESE FORECAST ERRORS FROM BEING TOO PESSIMISTIC RATHER
THAN RISK ERROR AND MISLEAD USERS BY BEING TOO OPTIMISTIC. NO
CHANGES PLANNED FOR FORECAST...BUT WILL MONITOR FOR UPDATES DUE TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS.    DNS

.LONG TERM...
THE LONGER RANGE MODELS ALL SEEM TO AGREE ON A GENERAL ZONAL FLOW
WITH SHORT WAVES MOVING ACROSS THE AREA.  THE PROBLEM IS THE TIMING
OF THESE SHORT WAVES...EACH MODEL/ECMWF...UKMET...AND GLOBAL
FORECAST SYSTEM/AVN...MRF//HAS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT TIMING.  THE AVN
IS FASTER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS...AND BRINGS IN THE STRONGEST SHORTWAVE
ON TUESDAY...SO WILL UP POPS FOR TUESDAY/JUST TO SLIGHT CHANCE/ AND
LEAVE THE POPS AT 20 PERCENT FOR THE REST OF THE FORECAST.  CLOUD
COVER IN GENERAL WILL BE PARTLY CLOUDY. TLSJR

KGGW RBB /065 044/069 045/070 8873000
     BBEE 048/077 050/077 050/071 050/071 052/ 88000222222
KGDV BBB /079 044/070 047/072 8853000
     BBEE 051/079 051/079 051/073 051/072 054/ 88000222222

.GGW...LAKE WIND ADVISORY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR FORT PECK
LAKE.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 thunderstorm wind, 2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Valley

When: August 16, 1:15 PM MST
Where: Valley County, 3 mi N of Oswego
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.100, -105.867

58 mph wind reported by spotter 6 miles north of Oswego.

Thunderstorm Wind, Prairie

When: August 16, 1:28 PM MST
Where: Prairie County, 30 mi NW of Terry
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.083, -105.750

58 mph wind reported at Big Sheep RAWS.

Thunderstorm Wind, Roosevelt

When: August 16, 1:30 PM MST
Where: Roosevelt County, Wolf Pt
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 48.100, -105.650

60 mph wind reported by Roosevelt County DES in Wolf Point.

High Wind, Little Rocky Mountains

When: August 16, 1:45 PM MST
Where: Little Rocky Mountains forecast zone
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 48.259, -107.913 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A strong cold front moving through the area produced high winds.

High Wind, Petroleum

When: August 16, 1:45 PM MST to 2:50 PM MST
Where: Petroleum forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.118, -108.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Thunderstorm Wind, Dawson

When: August 16, 1:55 PM MST
Where: Dawson County, Glendive Dawson Arpt
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.133, -104.800

60 mph wind reported at the Dawson County Airport in Glendive.

Thunderstorm Wind, Richland

When: August 16, 2:22 PM MST
Where: Richland County, Sidney Richland Arpt
Measured: 54 kt (62 mph)
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.700, -104.183

63 mph wind reported at the Sidney Richland County Airport. The wind downed a street light and 12 inch diameter trees in Sidney.

Thunderstorm Wind, Wibaux

When: August 16, 2:55 PM MST
Where: Wibaux County, 6 mi N of Wibaux
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.067, -104.183

60 mph wind reported by spotter 6 miles north of Wibaux.

Thunderstorm Wind, Roosevelt

When: August 16, 8:15 PM MST
Where: Roosevelt County, 8 mi E of Poplar
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 48.100, -105.033

61 mph wind reported at Poplar RAWS.

Thunderstorm Wind, McCone

When: August 16, 8:18 PM MST
Where: McCone County, Vida
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.833, -105.500

60 mph wind reported at Vida.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
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

Every storm in Montana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5317136, 5317141, 5317137, 5317202, 5317203, 5317142, 5317140, 5317143, 5317138, 5317139.