Montana, 2002

Hail in Montana, August 30, 2002

August 30, 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

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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 30, 1:50 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 1:50 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
250 PM MDT FRI AUG 30 2002

.SHORT TERM...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE TROF OVER THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST  WILL MOVE OVER THE ROCKIES BY TOMORROW MORNING. THE TROF
IS QUITE WEAK AND VERY LITTLE MOISTURE IS AVAILABLE. SOME
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON...BUT WILL
HAVE TROUBLE HOLDING TOGETHER ONCE THE HEATING ENDS. WEAK HIGH
PRESSURE WILL BUILD BEHIND THE TROF. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES
ACROSS SOUTHERN ALTA ON SUNDAY. THIS WILL DEVELOP LOW PRESSURE OVER
THE PROVINCE AND GENERATE SOME INCREASED SURFACE WINDS ACROSS THE
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ZONES. TEMPS WILL TRY TO COOL SLIGHTLY BEHIND
THE TROF SATURDAY ALTHOUGH THE PUSH OF COOLER AIR WILL HAVE TROUBLE
MOVING SOUTH. THE DOWNSLOPE WINDS AND WEAK HIGH PRESSURE ON SUNDAY
WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO WARM AGAIN THRU MONDAY. ZELZER

.EXTENDED...ANOTHER IN A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL TROUGHS DEVELOPS OVER
THE GULF OF ALASKA BY MONDAY...ROTATES ONSHORE TUESDAY...THEN PUSHES
OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES BY THURSDAY. THE ECMWF HOLDS THE TROUGH
BACK OVER THE WESTERN CONUS THROUGH THE WEEK...BUT EXPECT THAT THE
MORE PROGRESSIVE MRF HAS A BETTER HANDLE ON THE SITUATION. THE MRF
SOLUTION WILL DEVELOP SCATTERED CONVECTION OVER THE CWA WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY...ALONG WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES AS A SURFACE COLD FRONT
PUSHES THROUGH THE STATE. RIDGING DEVELOPS OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
ON FRIDAY FOR DRY AND SLIGHTLY WARMER WEATHER. MPJ

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 055/079 048/084 050 13311
    BBBBB 084/048 079/048 074/044 071/043 073 11102332100
CTB BB 050/073 045/078 048 13321
    BBBBB 080/045 076/044 072/042 068/042 071 11102322110
HLN BB 057/082 053/086 054 13421
    BBBBB 087/054 088/052 080/047 076/045 078 11102333200
BZN EB 046/075 045/080 043 13432
    BBBBB 082/044 079/045 076/043 071/041 072 11102343200
WEY EB 036/069 037/073 035 13432
    BBBBB 075/036 077/038 074/036 069/034 070 11102333200
DLN EB 046/075 045/080 044 13432
    BBBBB 082/045 081/045 076/043 070/042 072 11102343100
HVR BB 056/076 050/082 048 13321
    BBBBB 083/048 082/048 078/044 074/043 075 11101333210
LWT BB 052/076 048/080 048 13331
    BBBBB 080/047 080/048 077/045 072/042 073 11101343100

.TFX...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 30, 4:35 PM MST, 20 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...PRELIMINARY REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
535 PM MDT FRI AUG 30 2002

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

0502 PM    6 W CUTBANK               MT   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/30/02   GLACIER                        BROKE WINDSHIELD OUT OF
                                          POLICE CAR

NNNN

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:54 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Pondera

When
August 30, 4:55 PM MST
Where
Pondera County, Valier
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.300, -112.250

A severe thunderstorm produced 0.75 inch hail at Valier 5E.

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: 5317593.