Montana, 2002

Damaging Winds in Montana, July 17, 2002

July 17, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 3 events in 1 county or zone

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 17, 1:30 PM MST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 1:30 PM MST, 5 hours 40 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
230 PM MDT WED JUL 17 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR THU...FRI...SAT...

MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE AREA AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON. BOTH AVN
AND ETA HINTING AT STRONGEST AND MOST WIDESPREAD ACTIVITY TO BE OVER
EAST AND SOUTHERN ZONES. CURRENT RADAR SUGGESTING THIS AS WELL...WITH
MORE SCATTERED ACTIVITY CENTRAL AND WEST. WILL KEEP IN CURRENT POPS AND
KEEP MENTION OF POSSIBLY HEAVY RAIN IN EASTERN ZONES.

THURSDAY...UPPER RIDGE BUILDS INTO AREA AGAIN FOR WARMER TEMPERATURES.
WILL STILL BE UNSTABLE BUT WITH LESS LIFT...SO WILL KEEP RELATIVELY
LOW POPS GOING.

FRIDAY...STRONGER WAVE CONTINUES TO BE FORECASTED TO MOVE INTO WESTERN
MONTANA DURING THE AFTERNOON. TEMP RIDGE POPS BACK UP IN EASTERN ZONES
FOR NEAR 100 DEGREE TEMPS. CLOUDS AND PRECP SHOULD KEEP TEMPS DOWN IN
WESTERN ZONES. WILL UP POPS IN WESTERN ZONES. RASCH

FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...SHORTWAVE TROUGH PUSHES THROUGH MONTANA
FRIDAY NIGHT WITH ASSOCIATED COOL FRONT AT SURFACE. WITH TRAJECTORY OF
ENERGY BEST SHOT FOR THUNDER APPEARS TO BE IN THE WEST. SATURDAY COOL
FRONT PUSHES INTO DAKOTAS BUT AVN DEVELOPING DECENT INSTABILITY OUT EAST
IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WILL TWEAK POPS FOR BOTH PERIODS
ACCORDINGLY. JZ

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SUN...MON...TUE...WED...

WEST TO NORTHWEST UPPER FLOW DEVELOPS THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. SOME
DIFFERENCES ON AMPLITUDE AND POSITION OF UPPER RIDGE OVER THE WEST. MRF
MORE AMPLIFIED WITH RIDGE THUS PUTS MONTANA IN MORE NORTHWEST UPPER
FLOW...WHILE UKMET AND ECMWF KEEPING FLOW MORE ZONAL. IN EITHER CASE
TEMPS SHOULD BE NEAR SEASONAL AVERAGES AS HOT DESERT AIRMASS IS CONFINED
TO THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES. SHORTWAVE ENERGY LOOKS TO STAY MAINLY TO
THE NORTH OF THE AREA. AVN RUN SHOWING COOL FRONT PASSAGE BOTH LATE
SUNDAY AND TUESDAY...BUT FOR NOW WILL CONTINUE WITH DRY FORECAST AS
LITTLE UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT EVIDENT. JZ

    THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 065/092 068/096 064/087 063/088 062/087 060/087 061/085
    43/T    34/T    43/T    30/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
LVM 057/094 057/091 056/085 056/085 054/086 053/085 054/085
    43/T    34/T    42/T    20/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
HDN 061/094 064/098 065/087 064/089 061/089 059/088 062/086
    43/T    33/T    33/T    30/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
MLS 068/096 071/099 066/088 066/088 065/088 062/087 064/085
    42/T    23/T    33/T    30/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
4BQ 066/096 069/098 065/088 065/089 063/089 061/087 062/086
    43/T    33/T    33/T    30/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
BHK 064/092 067/097 064/085 065/086 063/087 059/085 060/083
    42/T    23/T    33/T    30/B    00/B    00/B    00/B
SHR 064/093 067/096 059/087 060/088 058/088 059/087 059/087
    43/T    33/T    33/T    30/B    00/B    00/B    00/B

.BYZ...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:10 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Big Horn

When
July 17, 7:10 PM MST
Where
Big Horn County, St Xavier
Measured
65 kt (75 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.467, -107.717

Thunderstorm Wind, Big Horn

When
July 17, 7:30 PM MST
Where
Big Horn County, Crow Agency
Measured
65 kt (75 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.600, -107.450

Funnel Cloud, Big Horn

When
July 17, 7:42 PM MST
Where
Big Horn County, 2 mi SW of Hardin
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.424, -107.490 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Public reported a possible funnel cloud

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Funnel Cloud
A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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, July 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: 5304166, 5304167, 5304168.