Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, July 8, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, July 8, 2002
Start: 2002-07-08T09:15
End: 2002-07-08T13:30
Location: Montana

July 8, 2002 · NWS MSO · 6 events in 2 counties and zones

Strong thunderstorm winds blew through Missoula County during the afternoon. As the storm moved through Missoula, a tree fell onto a bicyclist who was knocked unconscious and injured.

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: 1
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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.

Strong thunderstorm winds blew through Missoula County during the afternoon. As the storm moved through Missoula, a tree fell onto a bicyclist who was knocked unconscious and injured. Power lines were also blown down in Missoula from the storm. As the thunderstorm moved to the northeast, wind gusts up to 71 mph were recorded with wind damage reported through the Swan Valley and 0.75 hail reported in Condon.

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 8, 8:56 AM MST, 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 8:56 AM MST, 19 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
956 AM MDT MON JUL 8 2002

.SHORT TERM...UPDATESTO ZFP/SFP UPCOMING. WILL BE UPDATING TO DROP
FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR RAVALLI COUNTY AND TO TWEAK FORECAST.
NEGATIVELY TILTED UPPER TROF MOVING INTO CWA RIGHT NOW. RADAR LIT UP
PRETTY GOOD EARLIER THIS MORNING AS MAIN DYNAMICS MOVED THROUGH.
SHOWERS NOW DIMINISHING FROM SOUTH TO NORTH BUT STILL A FEW PRETTY
GOOD CELLS OVER SE CWA AROUND DEER LODGE AND DRUMMOND. HAD REPORTS OF
HALF INCH HAIL WITH SOME OF THE STORMS BUT NO SEVERE YET. WET BULB
ZERO HEIGHTS STARTED OUT HIGH (13KFT) WHICH HELPED US AVOID SEVERE
CELLS. WET BULB ZERO LEVELS ARE PROGGED TO FALL TO AROUND 10KFT BUT
ACTION IS MOVING OUT SO THREAT OF SEVERE DIMINISHING. SEEING SOME
NEW CELLS OVER NE OREGON AND CENTRAL IDAHO UNDER THE COLD POOL ALOFT.
EXPECT THIS TO CONTINUE BUT REMAIN ISOLATED AS THINGS STABLIZE IN THE
LOW LEVELS. WILL UPDATE FORECAST TO DROP DOWN TO ISOLD
SHOWERS/TSTORMS EVERYWHERE EXCEPT NW MT WHERE THINGS REMAIN UNSTABLE
THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON. WILL KEEP SCT SHOWERS/TSTORMS THERE AND
MENTION SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WIND POSSIBILITIES. WRIGHT

.LONG TERM...ALL MODELS ADVERTISE HOT DRY RIDGE PATTERN. QUESTION
REMAINS IF ANY SUB-TROPICAL MOISTURE DRIFTS NORTH FAR ENOUGH TO
IMPACT AREA LATER IN THE PERIOD. WILL BUMP HIGH TEMPS UP ROUGHLY 5
DEGREES. MSJ

.MSO...NONE

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB TBU /078 045/083 046/086 3954000
     UUUU 056/097 058/097 061/094 060/092 057/ 35000000000
FCA TBU /078 044/080 045/083 3954000
     UUUU 050/092 052/092 053/090 052/088 054/ 35000000000
POL WBU /075 051/079 052/082 3953000
     UUUU 057/089 059/089 062/088 061/087 056/ 35000000000
MSO EUU /079 046/085 047/088 3932000
     UUUU 051/096 053/098 055/094 054/091 058/ 35000000000
HMM EUU /078 045/084 046/087 3921000
     UUUU 053/097 055/099 058/095 057/093 059/ 35000000000
BTM EUU /077 042/083 043/086 3931000
     UUUU 048/090 050/092 051/089 050/087 052/ 35000000000
ORO BUU /079 052/086 055/092 3921000
     UUUU 061/098 063/098 066/094 065/093 062/ 35000000000
GRV BUU /076 046/082 049/087 3921000
     UUUU 057/095 059/095 062/091 061/089 058/ 35000000000
SMN BUU /082 044/085 045/088 3920000
     UUUU 051/095 052/096 053/093 052/091 055/ 35000000000

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Powell

When: July 8, 9:15 AM MST to 9:20 AM MST
Where: Powell County, Deer Lodge
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.400, -112.717

0.75 to 1.00 inch hail reported by spotters in Deer Lodge.

Thunderstorm Wind, Missoula

When: July 8, 12:35 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, Missoula
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 46.883, -114.000

Thunderstorm Wind, Missoula

When: July 8, 12:37 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, 12 mi N of Missoula Arpt
Measured: 62 kt (71 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.083, -114.083

Thunderstorm Wind, Missoula

When: July 8, 12:45 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, Condon
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: POST OFFICE
Coordinates: 47.567, -113.750

Hail, Missoula

When: July 8, 12:45 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, 5 mi S of Condon
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.500, -113.750

Thunderstorm Wind, Missoula

When: July 8, 1:30 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, 18 mi NW of Clearwater
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.183, -113.567

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

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5309114, 5309115, 5309116, 5309117, 5309118, 5309119.