Montana, 2002

Tornado in Montana, July 8, 2002

July 8, 2002 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$100,000
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 8, 2:00 PM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 2:00 PM MST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT MON JUL 8 2002

.SHORT TERM...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 7 PM. VIGOROUS
SHORT WAVE TO SWING THROUGH KGTF CWFA THIS EVENING WITH GOOD
MOIST EAST FLOW FOR SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL. THESE STORMS
MAY CONTAIN LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ACROSS MUCH
OF CENTRAL MONTANA AND THE EAST PART BY LATER THIS EVENING. LIFTED
INDECIES WERE IN THE -8 TO -10 RANGE LATE THIS MORNING AS
PER IR IMAGERY. SHORT WAVE WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN SASK
BY TUE...AS UPPER MAIN RIDGE OVER SW CONUS BUILDS INTO WESTERN
MONTANA...LEAVING AREA UNDER A DRY NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT.
HOWEVER...WEAK DYNAMICS OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA TUESDAY FOR
PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES.
MEANWHILE...SURFACE HIGH OVER PACIFIC NORTHWEST COMBINED
WITH SURFACE LOW OVER SOUTHERN CANADA FOR SOUTHWEST TO WEST
WINDS TONIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY...THEN DIMINISH DURING THE
AFTERNOON AS SURFACE HIGH MOVES INTO CENTRAL MONTANA.

TEMPERATURES WARM NICELY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY AS STRONG
UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES TO BUILD NORTH INTO SOUTHERN CANADA.
WILLIAMSON DC

.EXTENDED...
MODELS CONTINUE MEAN RIDGE OVER WESTERN US. COLD FRONT TO MOVE
THROUGH LATE IN WEEKEND WHICH WILL BRING COOLER CONDITIONS.
SOUTHWEST FLOW BECOMES MORE WESTERLY AS SHORT WAVES MOVE THROUGH
FLOW. THIS WILL BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AND
MONDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL COOL TOO...MORE NEAR SEASONAL AVERAGES IN
THE LOWER TO MID 80S.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF UU 054/084 050/092 052 20300
    UUUBB 094/054 092/053 092/053 088/053 085 00000000122
CTB UU 050/082 047/086 052 20200
    UUUBB 090/051 088/050 088/050 085/050 081 00000000122
HLN BB 053/087 050/094 056 20200
    BUUBB 095/055 095/054 092/054 087/054 085 00000000122
BZN BB 048/084 046/090 050 20100
    BUUBB 092/051 092/050 090/050 088/050 088 00000000011
WEY BB 040/078 038/082 043 20100
    BUUBB 084/042 084/042 082/041 079/041 077 00000000011
DLN BB 048/085 046/088 050 20100
    BUUBB 092/052 092/051 092/051 088/051 088 00000000011
HVR BU 058/085 052/090 056 20510
    UUUBB 095/055 095/054 092/060 088/057 086 00000000122
LWT BB 052/082 050/087 052 20610
    BUUBB 092/055 092/056 089/055 089/055 088 00000000122

.TFX...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 7 PM FOR CENTRAL AND PARTS
       OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA.

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:30 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Fergus

When
July 8, 3:30 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where
Fergus County, Hilger
Rating
F2
Path length
10 mi
Path width
200 yd
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.250, -109.350

A severe thunderstorm moved across the northern half of Fergus County during the late afternoon hours on the 8th. This storm produced a widespread area of one to two inch hail from Brooks to Roy, with wind gusts over 70 mph. When the storm was just north of Brooks, a tornado developed. This tornado was on the ground for several miles, but remained over rural areas of Fergus County. However, this tornado did hit three residences, causing damage to houses and several barns. A few mobile homes were also damaged and one grain elevator near Moulton was toppled.

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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 historyThe tornado archive for Montana, 2002Warnings 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: 5307416.