Montana, 2002

Hail in Montana, August 21, 2002

August 21, 2002 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 21, 7:55 PM MST, 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 7:55 PM MST, 33 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
855 PM MDT WED AUG 21 2002

.SHORT TERM...WILL UPDATE THIS EVENING TO FRESHEN THE WORDING.
ANOTHER ACTIVE EVENING WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ROAMING OVER MUCH
OF THE CWA. CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY TO SLOWLY DIE OUT AS THE EVENING
WEARS ON. REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST LOOKS ON TRACK ACCORDING TO THE
00Z ETA. CLOSED UPPER LOW PERSISTS OVER NORTHWEST MONTANA THURSDAY
BUT WEAKENS. FORECAST TEMPERATURES THURSDAY LOOK GOOD. EMANUEL

.EXTENDED...MRF AND ECMWF IN A LITTLE BETTER AGREEMENT TODAY THOUGH
THE ECMWF REMAINS PROGRESSIVE WITH THE PATTERN. UPPER TROF REMAINS
ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST SUNDAY WITH MOIST AND UNSTABLE
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER THE AREA. TROF AXIS MOVES ACROSS THE AREA
MONDAY FOR CONTINUED UNSETTLED CONDITIONS. UPPER RIDGE BEGINS TO
BUILD OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST TUESDAY WITH NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT.
WILL MENTION LOW POPS FOR INSTABILITY SHOWERS. RIDGE BUILDS OVER
THE AREA WEDNESDAY FOR DRY AND WARMER CONDITIONS. TEMPERATURES
SHOULD REMAIN AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 050/078 052/078 052 04512
    ETTTB 080/052 084/052 082/052 083/052 085 33333332221
CTB BE 050/075 048/075 050 04511
    ETTTB 077/050 083/050 082/050 083/050 084 22223322221
HLN BE 047/079 051/079 052 04611
    BTTTB 078/052 086/052 085/052 085/052 086 33223333321
BZN BE 042/079 046/079 046 04323
    BTTTB 078/045 084/045 082/045 082/045 084 33323333321
WEY BE 035/072 039/072 037 04223
    BTTTB 072/035 078/035 076/035 076/035 077 33323333321
DLN BE 042/077 045/077 044 04411
    BTTTB 077/045 084/045 083/045 083/045 084 23223222221
HVR BB 052/083 055/084 055 04212
    ETTTB 085/053 090/053 086/053 086/053 087 23323222221
LWT BB 048/078 052/078 050 04424
    ETTTB 079/050 084/050 083/050 083/050 084 33423333321=

.TFX...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR THE CAVE GULCH BURN AREA OF LEWIS
       AND CLARK COUNTY UNTIL 10 PM.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 21, 5:34 PM MST, 2 hours 54 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
634 PM MDT WED AUG 21 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0505 PM    7 W DILLON                MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/21/02   BEAVERHEAD                     ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY SPOTTER.

0520 PM    MARYSVILLE                MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/21/02   LEWIS  AND  CLARK              ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY SPOTTER.

0530 PM    3 N GEYSER                MT   0.25 INCH HAIL
08/21/02   JUDITH  BASIN                  LOTS OF PEA SIZED HAIL FELL
                                          AND FORMED DRIFTS UP TO 3
                                          INCHES DEEP...REPORTED BY
                                          SPOTTER.

0530 PM    GEYSER                    MT   0.25 INCH HAIL
08/21/02   JUDITH  BASIN                  LOTS OF PEA SIZED HAIL FELL
                                          AND FORMED DRIFTS OF 8 TO
                                          10 INCHES DEEP...REPORTED
                                          BY SPOTTER. 2.8 INCHES OF
                                          RAIN ALSO FELL IN 20
                                          MINUTES.

0535 PM    DILLON                    MT   0.88 INCH HAIL
08/21/02   BEAVERHEAD                     NICKEL SIZED HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY SPOTTER IN SOUTHEASTERN
                                          PORTION OF DILLON.

0545 PM    3 N DILLON                MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/21/02   BEAVERHEAD                     ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL
                                          WITH 0.16 INCHES OF
                                          RAINFALL REPORTED BY
                                          SPOTTER.

0605 PM    GRASSRANGE                MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/21/02   FERGUS                         ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY SPOTTER.

0605 PM    SHERIDAN                  MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/21/02   MADISON                        ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY SPOTTER.

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Broadwater

When
August 21, 8:28 PM MST
Where
Broadwater County, Townsend
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.317, -111.517

A severe thunderstorm produced 0.88 inch hail in Townsend.

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 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: 5317589.