Montana, 2002

Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, July 27, 2002

July 27, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 14 events in 6 counties and zones

8 hail, 6 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
14

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 27, 7:56 AM MST, 4 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 7:56 AM MST, 4 hours 52 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
856 AM MDT SAT JUL 27 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TDY...SUN...MON...
UPDATES PLANNED TO ZONES THIS MORNING. UNSETTLED WEATHER CONTINUES TO
DEVELOP WEST OF BILLINGS COUNTY WARNING AREA AND IS MOVING EAST. AREA OF
SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS PROGRESSIVELY MOVING TOWARD THE BILLINGS AREA AND
WILL UPDATE POPS TO LIKELY CATEGORY. 8AM TEMPS IN THE 60S TO LOWER 70S
ACROSS SC/SE MT AND SHR CO WY. FORECAST HIGHS IN THE LOWER TO MID 80S
REASONABLE GIVEN PRESENT CLOUD COVER AND EXPECTED PRECIPITATION TODAY IN
THE EAST. WILL TWEAK TEMPS DOWN A COUPLE DEGREES FOR LOCATIONS WEST OF
BIL WHERE CLOUD COVER IS THICKER AND PRECIPITATION ALREADY OCCURRING.
WINDS PRIMARILY W/NW AS FORECAST AND WILL ONLY MAKE SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS
TO SHR WHERE WINDS HAVE YET TO SHIFT. SPRINGER

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
UPPER LEVEL LOW ACROSS BRITISH COLUMBIA DROPS SOUTH ALONG THE COAST
TUESDAY...WITH NORTHWEST FLOW TRANSITIONING TO SOUTHWEST FLOW BY
WEDNESDAY. LATEST AVIATION RUN DEVIATES FROM THIS SOLUTION...PRODUCING
STRONGER ZONAL FLOW ACROSS THE AREA. HAVE LOW CONFIDENCE IN LATEST
AVIATION SOLUTION...SINCE PREVIOUS EXTENDED AVIATION...ECMWF...AND
NOGAPS RUNS SHOWED GOOD AGREEMENT. LATEST UKMET DOES NOT DROP THE UPPER
LOW SOUTH ALONG THE COAST UNTIL WEDNESDAY...BUT EVENTUALLY DOES
TRANSITION TO SOUTHWEST FLOW ACROSS THE CWA BY EARLY THURSDAY. GOING
FORECAST LOOKS GOOD WITH SCATTERED POPS FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS UPPER
LEVEL SHORTWAVE ENERGY AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE COLD FRONT WORK ACROSS THE
CWA. FRIDAY HIGH TEMPERATURES MAY BE TOO COOL AS EXTENDED AVIATION
INDICATES SLIGHT WARMING AT 850MB AND 700MB...BUT WILL NOT MAKE CHANGES
THIS PACKAGE. CARPENTER

    TDY SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 079 054/080 054/085 059/085 058/087 056/083 056/078
    6/T 40/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    03/T    33/T
LVM 077 048/079 048/083 055/083 054/085 052/078 052/073
    6/T 40/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    03/T    33/T
HDN 081 052/082 052/087 057/087 056/088 054/085 054/080
    6/T 42/W    00/B    00/B    00/B    03/T    33/T
MLS 083 055/080 052/087 059/087 058/089 056/084 056/079
    4/T 42/W    20/B    00/B    00/B    03/T    33/T
4BQ 084 055/081 053/086 058/086 058/088 056/083 056/078
    4/T 42/W    00/B    00/B    00/B    03/T    33/T
BHK 082 053/079 050/085 055/085 056/087 054/080 054/075
    4/T 42/W    20/B    00/B    00/B    03/T    33/T
SHR 083 053/081 051/086 055/086 055/087 053/081 053/076
    4/T 42/W    00/B    00/B    00/B    03/T    33/T

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

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Stillwater

When
July 27, 12:48 PM MST
Where
Stillwater County, 12 mi SW of Reed Pt
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.583, -109.733

Hail, Stillwater

When
July 27, 1:10 PM MST
Where
Stillwater County, 6 mi NW of Fishtail
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.517, -109.583

Hail, Stillwater

When
July 27, 1:22 PM MST
Where
Stillwater County, 3 mi E of Columbus
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.633, -109.183

Hail, Musselshell

When
July 27, 2:45 PM MST
Where
Musselshell County, 6 mi NE of Musselshell
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.583, -108.000

Hail, Musselshell

When
July 27, 2:50 PM MST
Where
Musselshell County, 4 mi S of Melstone
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.550, -107.883

Thunderstorm Wind, Big Horn

When
July 27, 3:35 PM MST
Where
Big Horn County, Lodge Grass
Measured
70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.317, -107.350

Wind damage. Gustnado ahead of storm downed a few trees.

Hail, Big Horn

When
July 27, 3:35 PM MST
Where
Big Horn County, St Xavier
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.467, -107.717

Hail, Powder River

When
July 27, 6:05 PM MST
Where
Powder River County, Broadus
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.450, -105.417

Thunderstorm Wind, Powder River

When
July 27, 6:05 PM MST
Where
Powder River County, Broadus
Measured
71 kt (82 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.450, -105.417

Thunderstorm Wind, Powder River

When
July 27, 6:13 PM MST
Where
Powder River County, 3 mi NE of Broadus
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.483, -105.367

Thunderstorm Wind, Carter

When
July 27, 7:15 PM MST
Where
Carter County, 9 mi NNE of Alzada
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.133, -104.350

Thunderstorm Wind, Fallon

When
July 27, 7:25 PM MST
Where
Fallon County, 22 mi S of Baker
Measured
60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.050, -104.283

Hail, Carter

When
July 27, 7:27 PM MST
Where
Carter County, 10 mi N of Alzada
Measured
1.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.167, -104.417

Thunderstorm Wind, Carter

When
July 27, 7:27 PM MST
Where
Carter County, Alzada
Measured
70 kt (81 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
45.017, -104.417

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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

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: 5304175, 5304176, 5304172, 5304173, 5304174, 5304177, 5304178, 5304179, 5304180, 5304181, 5304182, 5304185, 5304183, 5304184.