Name: Hail in Montana, August 20, 2002
Start: 2002-08-20T20:15
End: 2002-08-20T20:15
Location: Montana

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 8:00 PM MST, 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 8:00 PM MST, 15 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
900 PM MDT TUE AUG 20 2002

.SHORT TERM...UPDATE PLANNED THIS EVENING. ACTIVE EVENING WITH
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER MEAGHER COUNTY AND MOVING ACROSS JUDITH
BASIN. THE STRONGEST STORM WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN FERGUS COUNTY
WITHIN THE HALF HOUR. WILL MAKE SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO THE POPS FOR
TONIGHT. 00Z ETA CONTINUES TO PLACE A CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER IDAHO
BY EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING AND LEAVES IT THERE THROUGH 30 HOURS.
HIGH POPS FOR WESTERN PORTION OF CWA THURSDAY STILL LOOK GOOD.
TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO LOOK ON TRACK. EMANUEL

.EXTENDED...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS VERY INCONSISTENT WITH THEIR
SOLUTIONS. ECMWF A BIT MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN THE MRF AND MOVES
UPPER FEATURES FASTER ALONG THAN THE MRF. UPPER RIDGE OVER THE AREA
SATURDAY WITH RIDGE AXIS SHIFTING EAST SUNDAY. THIS ALLOWS MOISTURE
TO FEED INTO THE AREA AND A CHANCE FOR CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. AIRMASS
REMAINS UNSETTLED MONDAY AND TUESDAY AND WILL KEEP A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS IN THE FORECAST. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AT OR SLIGHTLY
ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF WB 053/072 050/078 050 04754
    BBTTT 078/052 086/052 084/052 083/052 082 22211233333
CTB WB 052/067 046/076 048 04662
    BBTTT 076/050 084/050 083/050 082/050 082 11111233333
HLN WB 054/072 049/080 051 04653
    EBTTT 080/052 087/052 088/052 085/052 085 22221233333
BZN EB 046/073 042/080 046 04544
    EBTTT 080/045 083/045 082/045 082/045 082 33221333333
WEY EB 038/068 035/074 039 04344
    EBTTT 074/035 078/035 078/035 076/035 076 33233333333
DLN EB 046/072 042/077 045 04542
    ETTTT 077/044 083/045 084/045 083/045 083 22221233333
HVR WB 057/077 052/083 052 04753
    BBTTT 083/052 089/053 090/053 086/053 086 22111223333
LWT WB 053/072 048/078 048 04744
    BBTTT 078/050 083/050 084/050 083/050 083 32221233333=

.TFX...NONE.

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:13 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Judith Basin

When: August 20, 8:15 PM MST
Where: Judith Basin County, Benchland
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.083, -110.017

A severe thunderstorm produced 0.75 inch hail at Benchland 1N.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

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: 5317586.