Name: Hail in Montana, August 26, 2002
Start: 2002-08-26T18:29
End: 2002-08-26T19:55
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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 26, 2:40 PM MST, 3 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 2:40 PM MST, 3 hours 49 minutes before

NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
340 PM MDT MON AUG 26 2002

.SHORT TERM...
UPPER LOW OVER SASKATCHEWAN WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST AS ANOTHER UPPER
LOW DIGS INTO GREAT BASIN. MODELS IN DECENT AGREEMENT INTO WEDNESDAY
WITH AXIS BETWEEN LOWS DROPS SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE STATE. THIS WILL
SLOWLY SHIFT THE FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTHERN
MONTANA TONIGHT TO SOUTHERN MONTANA ON WEDNESDAY. ETA DRIER THEN AVN
WITH NO PRECIP OVER CWA ON WEDNESDAY. GIVEN WET PATTERN THAT HAS
PERSISTED THROUGHOUT THE MONTH WILL HEDGE TOWARD THE SLIGHTLY WETTER
MODEL AND KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN ZONES ON
WEDNESDAY. SURFACE HIGH DROPPING OUT OF ALBERTA ON WEDNESDAY WILL
KEEP COOL TEMPERATURES OVER THE REGION.

BY THURSDAY...SASKATCHEWAN LOW MOVES EAST AND GREAT BASIN LOW BEGINS
TO DOMINATE. UPPER FLOW TURNS SOUTH AND AVN INDICATING FAIRLY STRONG
LOW LEVEL JET INTO EASTERN MONTANA. WARMER TEMPERATURES EXPECTED
ALONG WITH SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.

.LONG TERM...
UPPER LOW LIFTS OUT OF GREAT BASIN ON FRIDAY WITH ANOTHER LOW
DROPPING INTO PACIFIC NORTHWEST. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS STILL TRYING TO
CUT OFF THIS LOW AS IT DIGS SOUTH INTO CALIFORNIA. THIS BRINGS MORE
WESTERLY FLOW INTO MONTANA FOR DRIER WEATHER. COOL TEMPERATURES
SHOULD CONTINUE WITH FLOW COMING ACROSS THE NORTH PACIFIC/GULF OF
ALASKA. EBERT

KGGW EBB 057/078 055/081 050/082 90333222
     BBBB 056/085 054/078 051/074 050/073 9022000000
KGDV BBB 054/081 057/081 051/085 90223332
     BBBB 056/085 055/082 054/078 050/075 9023000000

.GGW...NONE

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 18 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:26 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Valley

When: August 26, 6:29 PM MST
Where: Valley County, 5 mi WNW of Ft Peck
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.050, -106.550

Hail, Valley

When: August 26, 6:33 PM MST
Where: Valley County, Ft Peck
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.017, -106.450

Hail, Valley

When: August 26, 7:55 PM MST
Where: Valley County, 17 mi N of Glasgow
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.450, -106.633

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: 5317216, 5317217, 5317218.