Damaging Wind in Montana, July 17, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Montana, July 17, 2002
Start: 2002-07-17T18:55
End: 2002-07-17T18:55
Location: Montana

July 17, 2002 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, 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 Jul 17, 1:40 PM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 1:40 PM MST, 5 hours 15 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
240 PM MDT WED JUL 17 2002

.SHORT TERM...SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT IS CONTINUING OVER THE CWA THIS
AFTERNOON. THE SURFACE AIRMASS REMAINS MOIST AND UNSTABLE...AND
CONVECTION IS ALREADY FIRING OVER THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS AND ALONG
THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. EXPECT ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
THIS EVENING AND THURSDAY EVENING. SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD BE LIMITED
DUE TO WEAK SHEAR AND LACK OF UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS. SLOW MOVING CELLS
COULD TRIGGER LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS WITH ATTENDANT FLASH FLOOD OR MUD
SLIDE DANGER NEAR BURN AREAS. ON FRIDAY THE MODELS ARE IN GOOD
AGREEMENT...PUSHING A SURFACE COLD FRONT INTO CENTRAL MT FROM THE
WEST...ACCOMPANIED BY AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE. MODEL LIFTED INDICES
AND CAPE INDICATE THAT THE AIRMASS BECOMES RELATIVELY STABLE AS THE
COLD FRONT PUSHES INTO CENTRAL MT FRIDAY AFTERNOON. ETA/MESO-ETA
MODEL QPF IS FAIRLY IMPRESSIVE...THOUGH LIKELY OVERDONE. TIMING OF
THE UPPER DISTURBANCE VARIES BETWEEN THE ETA/MESO-ETA AND AVN
MODELS...BUT EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP
AHEAD OF THE FRONT AS IT MOVES INTO THE REGION. ISOLATED
THUNDERSTORMS REDEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS AGAIN ON
SATURDAY...BUT DOWNSLOPE WINDS SHOULD KEEP THE PLAINS DRY. MPJ

.EXTENDED...LIKE YESTERDAY AVN AND ECMWF HAVE SIGNIFICANT
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM. 00Z WED AVN HAS NW FLOW ALOFT OVER THE AREA
EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH UPPER RIDGE AXIS NEAR 120W. 12Z TUE ECMWF HAS
THE UPPER RIDGE AXIS OVER THE WRN U.S. 12Z WED RUN OF THE UKMET
LOOKS MORE LIKE THE AVN THAN THE ECMWF. WILL LEAN TOWARDS THE 00Z
WED AVN RUN FOR THIS FORECAST. IT KEEPS WARM TEMPERATURES THROUGH
TUE WITH COOLING FOR WED. 12Z WED RUN OF THE AVN IS A LOT DIFFERENT
THAN ITS 00Z RUN IN THAT IT HAS MUCH MORE TROUGHINESS OVER WRN CAN
AND THE NW U.S. SUN AND MON. FEEL THIS TROUGHINESS IS OVERDONE BUT
IF IT PANS OUT WILL SEE COOLING AS EARLY AS MON. BLANK

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BW 062/095 062/090 057 14212
    BBBBB 086/054 085/054 085/054 085/052 082 43111111222
CTB BW 059/092 058/086 055 14212
    BBBBB 083/052 082/052 082/052 082/050 078 43111111222
HLN BW 059/093 060/088 058 14314
    BBBBB 088/055 087/055 087/055 087/054 084 53111111222
BZN BW 054/088 056/085 052 14423
    BBBBB 086/052 085/052 085/052 085/052 083 53211111222
WEY BW 052/083 050/079 047 14334
    BBBBB 078/043 080/043 080/043 080/043 078 53211111222
DLN BW 053/086 054/082 052 14335
    BBBBB 083/051 084/051 084/051 084/051 083 52211111222
HVR BW 058/097 062/095 060 14212
    BBBBB 088/055 087/055 087/055 087/054 083 33211111222
LWT BW 056/090 058/089 056 14312
    BBBBB 084/053 085/053 085/053 085/052 080 34211111222=

.TFX...NONE

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:56 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cascade

When: July 17, 6:55 PM MST
Where: Cascade County, Ulm
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.433, -111.517

A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust of 60 mph at Ulm 1S.

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.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5307348.