Damaging Wind in Montana, July 23, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Montana, July 23, 2002
Start: 2002-07-23T17:20
End: 2002-07-23T17:20
Location: Montana

July 23, 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 23, 2:00 PM MST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 23, 2:00 PM MST, 3 hours 20 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT TUE JUL 23 2002

.SHORT TERM...THUNDERSTORMS FIRING OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA THIS
AFTERNOON WILL SPREAD NORTHEAST INTO CENTRAL MONTANA BY THIS
EVENING. SOME STORMS MAY BE SEVERE...WITH SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY
(CAPE VALUES OF 1500-2500 J/KG) AND VERTICAL WIND SHEAR (30-40 KTS
OF 0-6 KM SHEAR) TO PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL. HEAVY
RAINFALL AMOUNTS ARE LIKELY AS WELL...WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER
VALUES AROUND 1 INCH. STORMS SHOULD MOVE INTO EASTERN ZONES LATE
THIS EVENING...AND EXIT THE AREA AROUND MIDNIGHT. WEDNESDAY...AN
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...WITH NORTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT AND DOWNSLOPE WIND OVER CENTRAL MONTANA. EVEN WITH A FEW
WEAK DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH...THERE WILL BE LESS INSTABILITY AND
MOISTURE...SO AM NOT EXPECTING MUCH IN THE WAY OF THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT TOMORROW. WILL JUST MENTION ISOLATED MOUNTAIN
THUNDERSTORMS. THURSDAY...THE WESTERN RIDGE FLATTENS OUT...AS A
TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN PACIFIC MOVES ON SHORE. THE FLOW ALOFT BEGINS
TO BACK AS WELL...WITH A FEW DISTURBANCES EMBEDDED IN THE SOUTHWEST
FLOW. WILL MENTION ISOLATED POPS FOR NOW. DRY AIR AND DOWNSLOPE WIND
WILL DOMINATE THE WEATHER ON FRIDAY...AS A LARGE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
LURKS OVER SOUTHERN CANADA. TEMPS WILL WARM SLIGHTLY WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY...WITH A SLIGHT COOL-DOWN FRIDAY. VILLANI

.EXTENDED...MODELS ARE COMING INTO BETTER AGREEMENT WITH UPPER LEVEL
FEATURES PROGGED TO AFFECT THE REGION THIS WEEKEND. TROUGH NOW
APPEARS TO BE BROADER AND APPEARS TO MOVE INTO THE STATE A BIT
FASTER THAN PREVIOUSLY PROGGED. ECMWF PROGRESSES THE TROUGH THROUGH
THE STATE BY MONDAY...WHILE THE MRF/AVN KEEPS THE TROUGH LINGERING
OVER CNTRL MT THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. STABILITY INDICES LOOK RATHER
UNIMPRESSIVE IN THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS...AND FLOW OVER THE STATE
MAY NOT BE MOIST ENOUGH FOR MUCH CONVECTION. STILL...WITH THE TROUGH
APPROACHING THE AREA WOULD EXPECT SOME SHOWERS...AND WILL KEEP A
SLIGHT CHANCE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. MONDAY AND TUESDAY SHOULD BE DRIER
AS THE FLOW BECOMES MORE NORTHWESTERLY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE A BIT
COOLER OVER THE WEEKEND AS THE TROUGH LOWERS THICKNESSES. MPJ

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 058/088 058/088 055 16411
    BBBUU 084/052 079/051 080/052 083/050 080 12122221100
CTB BB 056/085 056/085 053 16111
    BBBUU 079/051 075/050 076/051 079/049 077 12122221100
HLN BB 060/090 060/090 057 16511
    BBBBB 087/054 081/052 082/051 085/055 082 22222221111
BZN BB 053/088 053/088 052 16511
    BBBBB 084/051 080/050 081/051 084/049 081 22222222111
WEY BB 046/082 043/082 044 16311
    BBBBB 079/042 074/041 075/042 077/041 074 22222222111
DLN BB 052/088 052/088 051 16311
    BBBBB 085/052 080/049 081/050 083/051 080 22222222111
HVR BB 058/088 058/088 055 16211
    BBBUU 085/053 079/051 081/052 085/051 082 12122221100
LWT BB 056/086 055/086 054 16511
    BBBUU 083/051 078/049 079/050 082/050 079 12122221100=

.TFX...NONE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 23, 4:21 PM MST, 59 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
521 PM MDT TUE JUL 23 2002

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

0453 PM    3 N DILLON                MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/23/02   BEAVERHEAD                     TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS
                                          GROUND COMPLETELY WHITE
                                          FROM HAIL

0515 PM    6 N CHOTEAU               MT   0.88 INCH HAIL
07/23/02   TETON                          SPOTTER REPORT

NNNN

Local storm report, Jul 23, 5:09 PM MST, 11 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
609 PM MDT TUE JUL 23 2002

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

0453 PM    3 N DILLON                MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/23/02   BEAVERHEAD                     TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTS
                                          GROUND COMPLETELY WHITE
                                          FROM HAIL

0515 PM    6 N CHOTEAU               MT   0.88 INCH HAIL
07/23/02   TETON                          SPOTTER REPORT

0605 PM    2 S FT SHAW               MT   70 MPH TSTM GUST
07/23/02   CASCADE                        ALSO HEAVY RAIN...SPOTTER
                                          REPORT

NNNN

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 17 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:17 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cascade

When: July 23, 5:20 PM MST
Where: Cascade County, Vaughn
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.567, -111.550

A severe thunderstorm produced a 65 mph wind gust at Vaughn 3S.

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: 5307587.