Montana, 2002

Damaging Wind in Montana, July 3, 2002

July 3, 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 3, 2:00 PM MST, 4 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 2:00 PM MST, 4 hours 31 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT WED JUL 3 2002

.SHORT TERM...LOW LEVEL SOUTHEAST WINDS ARE INCREASING MOISTURE OVER
SOUTHERN HALF OF CWA. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH
FRIDAY NIGHT...BUT RAIN CHANCES GRADUALLY DECREASE OVER THIS
PERIOD. PRIMARY REASON IS WEAK COLD FRONT/SURFACE TROUGH THAT MOVES
THROUGH REGION TONIGHT. THIS WILL TURN WINDS TO DOWNSLOPE OVER THE
PLAINS BY MORNING...DRYING THE LOWER LEVELS. THIS BOUNDARY STALLS ON
A LEWISTOWN TO DILLON LINE TOMORROW...AND THIS WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR
AFTERNOON CONVECTION AGAIN. NORTH OF THIS BOUNDARY...CONVECTIVE
ACTION WILL BE HIGHLY UNLIKELY AS LOWER LEVELS STABILIZE. UPPER
TROUGH CURRENTLY OVER PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL WEAKEN AND MOVE TO THE
NORTH OF THE CWA FRIDAY...PAVING THE WAY FOR RIDGE TO BEGIN BUILDING
ON SATURDAY. WILL HOLD OFF ON WARMING TEMPS TOO MUCH SATURDAY OVER
THE NORTH. NORTHWEST SURFACE WINDS SHOULD KEEP TEMPS FROM RUNNING
AWAY. POMEROY

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SUN...MON...TUE...WED...
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE TO RETROGRADE (BACK-UP) OVER STATE
THROUGH THE PERIOD. MODELS DIFFER ON PLACEMENT OF HIGH AND SURFACE
LOWS THAT TRY TO MOVE UP UNDER THE RIDGE BRINGING LIMITED MOISTURE.
WILL GO WITH HOT TEMPERATURES AND LITTLE PRECIP AT THIS TIME. CAMP

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BU 050/079 048/080 050 19211
    UBBBB 085/052 092/054 094/058 090/058 090 00011111111
CTB BU 048/071 043/074 047 19100
    UBBBB 081/045 085/049 088/052 088/050 086 00011111111
HLN BU 055/082 054/083 052 19422
    UBBBB 085/050 090/055 095/057 095/056 090 00011111111
BZN BB 051/084 052/082 050 19422
    BBBBB 086/045 089/048 092/050 093/052 090 11111111111
WEY BB 045/078 046/076 044 19422
    BBBBB 075/040 082/042 085/043 083/043 083 11121211111
DLN BB 050/082 047/083 045 19222
    BBBBB 086/045 090/049 093/051 093/052 090 11111111111
HVR BB 052/080 050/081 050 19211
    BBBBB 084/050 093/054 095/060 093/060 090 00011111111
LWT BU 050/078 048/076 050 19423
    UBBBB 080/047 090/050 092/054 093/057 091 00011111111

.TFX...NONE.

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 175 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Hill

When
July 3, 6:31 PM MST
Where
Hill County, Havre
Measured
59 kt (68 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
48.550, -109.683

A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust of 59 mph at the Havre Airport.

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

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: 5307276.