Hail in Montana, July 25, 2002

Name: Hail in Montana, July 25, 2002
Start: 2002-07-25T19:10
End: 2002-07-25T19:10
Location: Montana

July 25, 2002 · NWS MSO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong thunderstorm moved north along the eastern edge of the Bitterroot Valley near Hamilton, producing one inch diameter hailand gusty winds which downed power lines.

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 happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

A strong thunderstorm moved north along the eastern edge of the Bitterroot Valley near Hamilton, producing one inch diameter hailand gusty winds which downed power lines.

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 Jul 25, 12:55 PM MST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 12:55 PM MST, 6 hours 15 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
155 PM MDT THU JUL 25 2002

.SHORT TERM...CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH A VORT CENTER OVER EASTERN
WASHINGTON HAS BEEN CONFINED TO THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE...WITH A FEW
CELL DRIFTING OVER THE MONTANA BORDER. BETTER CONVECTION BEGINNING TO
FIRE UP ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ZONES WHERE ANOTHER VORT MAX LOCATED. IN
ADDITION...AN AREA OF UPPER-LEVEL DIVERGENCE/LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE
RESIDED IN THE SAME AREA. THUS...EXPECT SCATTERED TSTORMS ACTIVITY
ACROSS THE SOUTH AND ISOLATED COVERAGE FARTHER NORTH. THERE IS A
POTENTIAL FOR A FEW STORMS BECOMING SEVERE OVER LEMHI COUNTY AND
BUTTE/SILVERBOW AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING. AN UPPER TROUGH WILL PASS
THROUGH THE REGION TONIGHT...FOLLOWED BY WEAK RIDGING IN THE
NORTHWEST FLOW FOR FRI. WILL KEEP LOW/NO POPS IN FOR FRI...WITH
SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS.

FRI NIGHT/SAT...ANOTHER SHORT-WAVE TROUGH WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE
REGION. THIS SYSTEM DOES NOT LOOK VERY MOIST...BUT SHOULD PROVIDE
A COOLER SHOT OF AIR AND BREEZY CONDITIONS. SATURDAY WILL BE OUR
COOLEST DAY WITH JUST SLIGHT CHANCE POPS.

SUN...TEMPS WILL BEGIN TO RECOVER AS WE TRANSITION TO A FLAT RIDGE
PATTERN. MSJ

.LONG TERM...A HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE BUILDS IN OVER THE WEST CENTRAL
UNITED STATES MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL MAKE FOR ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRY CONDITIONS. ON THURSDAY...A LONGWAVE
TROUGH ENTERS THE AREA BREAKING DOWN THE RIDGE FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE
FOR SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS AND SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES.
GILCHRIST

.MSO...NONE.

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB EBB 055/088 053/080 048/082 35212000
     BBBB 050/088 052/090 055/093 055/091 3300000011
FCA EBB 051/080 050/076 045/077 35202000
     BBBB 047/082 048/085 050/087 050/085 3300000011
POL EBB 057/083 056/075 053/075 35201100
     BBBB 052/081 055/084 056/086 056/085 3300000011
MSO EBB 054/087 052/078 047/082 35301200
     BBBB 049/087 053/090 054/092 053/088 3300000011
HMM EBB 055/086 051/079 045/081 35301000
     BBBB 051/086 052/089 055/091 053/087 3300000011
BTM EBB 049/080 047/076 042/075 35420000
     BBBB 043/080 045/085 047/089 047/084 3300000000
ORO BBU 060/092 060/083 056/087 35200000
     UBBB 060/093 062/096 063/096 062/090 3300000011
GRV BBU 056/085 053/079 050/083 35200000
     UBBB 054/088 057/091 058/091 056/085 3300000011
SMN BBU 050/083 050/078 046/079 35400000
     BBBB 047/085 050/087 054/089 052/085 3300000000

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: July 25, 7:10 PM MST
Where: Ravalli County, 5 mi ESE of Hamilton
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 46.217, -114.050

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

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: 5309129.