A tight surface pressure gradient combined with microburst winds from convective showers brought gusty winds to the area. Some large trees were knocked over, one fell on a house in Butte.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
A tight surface pressure gradient combined with microburst winds from convective showers brought gusty winds to the area. Some large trees were knocked over, one fell on a house in Butte. The facade of an old building in downtown Philipsburg fell into the street from the strong winds. Power was disrupted in Butte and Philipsburg and one person was seriously injured in Anaconda when he was blown off a carport.
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 Jun 18, 7:30 AM MST, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
830 AM MDT TUE JUN 18 2002
.SHORT TERM...NO UPDATES TO ZFP OR SFP EXPECTED. UPPER LOW CURRENTLY
OVER NORTHWEST WASHINGTON...WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH EAST ACROSS
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL WASHINGTON TODAY. BAND OF PRECIPITATION AHEAD
OF THIS LOW IS CURRENTLY FROM THE IDAHO PANHANDLE SOUTHWEST TO
NORTHEAST OREGON. THIS BAND OF SHOWERS WILL MOVE INTO THE MISSOULA
FORECAST AREA DURING THE MORNING HOURS. DECENT INSTABILITY WITH UPPER
LEVEL COLD CORE MOVING OVERHEAD AND ANOTHER SHORTWAVE MOVING OVER THE
AREA THIS AFTERNOON. CURRENT FORECAST OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS LOOKS
ON TRACK. COOL TEMPERATURES SEEM ON TRACK...BUT MAY NOT BE COOL
ENOUGH. WILL MONITOR THROUGH THE DAY.
SHOWER ACTIVITY MAY GIVE US SOME HYDRO CONCERNS TODAY AS SNOW MELT
OVER THE WEEKEND ALLOWED MANY RIVERS AND SMALL TRIBUTARIES TO RISE.
MAIN CONCERN IS THE NORTH FORK OF THE FLATHEAD AT POLEBRIDGE. AN
UPDATE TO THE CURRENT RIVER STATEMENT WILL BE OUT BY 18Z. MEAD
.LONG TERM...MRF/AVN AND UK MET SEEM TO BE IN LINE WITH EACH OTHER.
FRIDAY HAS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE AREA PUSHING EASTWARD FOR A
SLIGHT CHANCE FOR PRECIP IN MOST AREAS...WITH A CHANCE IN THE
SOUTHERN ZONES. SATURDAY THINGS SHOULD DRY OUT A BIT WITH SHORTWAVE
RIDGING AHEAD OF NEXT WAVE WHICH DIGS IN OVER THE WEST COAST. SUNDAY
SHOULD SEE SOME AFTERNOON SHOWERS WITH LAPSE RATES OF 8.5 DEGREES
C/KM. MONDAY THE AREA COMES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE UPPER LEVEL
TROUGH FOR COOLER MORE MOIST CONDITIONS WHICH WILL REMAIN THROUGH THE
REMAINDER OF THE PERIOD. TEMPERATURES WILL RISE SLIGHTLY OR REMAIN
STEADY THROUGH SUNDAY WITH A COOL DOWN UNDER THE TROUGH FOR MONDAY.
GILCHRIST
.MSO...NONE.
...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB REB /058 043/067 047/078 3195110
BBBB 051/079 053/081 056/082 056/074 054/ 33111001322
FCA REB /058 040/064 041/074 31+5110
BBBB 047/079 047/081 050/082 050/073 049/ 33221001322
POL REB /060 043/067 043/074 31+5000
BBBB 049/077 049/079 052/081 053/073 053/ 33221001322
MSO REB /061 042/067 043/077 3184000
BBBB 047/078 048/082 051/085 051/078 050/ 33221001322
HMM RBB /062 043/067 044/079 3183002
BBBB 048/083 050/085 053/087 053/079 051/ 33222001222
BTM RBB /063 038/063 037/075 3154003
BBBB 039/076 044/078 044/081 045/074 046/ 33322101211
ORO RBB /065 048/073 053/082 3194000
BBBB 056/084 058/087 058/088 058/080 059/ 33211101411
GRV RBB /060 043/069 045/079 31+3000
BBBB 050/081 051/083 055/085 055/074 055/ 33221101411
SMN RBB /066 043/070 043/079 3172003
BBBB 049/084 051/086 054/088 054/079 053/ 33322101211The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, June 2002
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: 5301718.