Montana, 2002

Hail in Montana, August 27, 2002

August 27, 2002 · NWS MSO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm in the southern Bitterroot Valley produced 3/4 inch size hail.

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 happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

A severe thunderstorm in the southern Bitterroot Valley produced 3/4 inch size hail.

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 27, 1:15 PM MST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 27, 1:15 PM MST, 2 hours 15 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
215 PM MDT TUE AUG 27 2002

.SHORT TERM...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER SOUTHERN IDAHO WILL REMAIN
FAIRLY STATIONARY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS
ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ZONES TONIGHT WITH SLIGHT CHANCE ELSEWHERE.
WILL KEEP POPS LOW FROM WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. THE UPPER LEVEL LOW
OPENS UP TO A TROUGH AND MOVES INTO THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT AND
FRIDAY SO WILL PUSH UP THE POPS INTO CHANCE...WITH THE HIGHEST
ACROSS THE SOUTH. VERY LITTLE TEMPERATURE CHANGE...BUT WILL COOL THE
CWA DOWN A FEW DEGREES ON FRIDAY WITH MORE CLOUD COVER. KOLATA

.LONG TERM...MODELS STILL IN GOOD AGREEMENT. HAVE A UPPER LEVEL
TROUGH FORMING A CUTOFF LOW OVER CALIFORNIA. THE TROUGH WILL KEEP
THE CWA IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT ON SATURDAY FOR AFTERNOON/EVENING
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SUNDAY THE FLOW BECOMES MORE
WEST/NORTHWEST FOR DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE
PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL THROUGH THE PERIOD...INTO THE LOWER
70S BY MONDAY...THEN WARM SLIGHTLY ON TUESDAY AS THE AREA COMES
UNDER SOME WEAK RIDGING. GILCHRIST

.MSO...NONE.

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB BBB 048/081 048/080 051/075 39100132
     BBBB 050/080 048/077 045/074 045/077 3322110000
FCA BBB 045/076 046/075 047/072 39100233
     BBBB 047/077 045/074 042/072 042/074 3332110000
POL BBB 050/076 052/075 053/075 39100233
     BBBB 053/080 051/077 048/073 048/076 3333100000
MSO BBB 048/079 050/077 050/075 39302234
     BBBB 048/080 047/078 043/074 043/078 3333100000
HMM BBB 051/078 053/077 050/073 39312254
     BBBB 048/078 047/077 045/075 045/077 3333100000
BTM BBB 040/072 043/073 044/071 39522334
     BBBB 044/076 042/075 041/071 041/074 3333100000
ORO BBE 053/087 058/083 057/079 39001022
     UBBB 056/083 055/083 054/081 054/082 3311000000
GRV BBB 049/082 055/080 054/075 39102022
     UBBB 052/078 051/078 050/076 050/077 3312000000
SMN BBB 043/077 047/076 048/074 39422344
     BBBB 046/078 046/078 044/076 044/078 3333100000

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Ravalli

When
August 27, 3:30 PM MST to 4:00 PM MST
Where
Ravalli County, 6 mi NE of Sula
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.900, -113.883

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: 5313932.