Hail in Montana, June 21, 2002

Name: Hail in Montana, June 21, 2002
Start: 2002-06-21T13:48
End: 2002-06-21T21:30
Location: Montana

June 21, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 8 events in 2 counties and zones

8 hail, 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: 8

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 Jun 21, 1:09 PM MST, 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 1:09 PM MST, 39 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
209 PM MDT FRI JUN 21 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SAT...SUN...MON...
UPPER LOW DIGGING INTO CENTRAL CALIFORNIA THIS AFTERNOON SPITTING OUT A
COUPLE OF DISTURBANCES ACROSS OUR AREA WHICH SHOULD LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT
CONVECTION THIS EVENING...ALREADY DEVELOPING OVER SHERIDAN COUNTY ATTM.
AS MENTIONED IN PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS ATMOSPHERE SET UP FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ESPECIALLY FROM ROSEBUD COUNTY EAST WITH CAPES TO 3000
J/KG...LIS TO -10...AND WIND SHEAR TO 30 M/S. CONVECTION SHOULD LINGER
INTO THE MORNING IN THE EAST...WHILE TAPERING OFF AFTER MIDNIGHT WEST.
FOR SATURDAY UPPER TROF BECOMES NEGATIVELY TILTED AS IT MOVES INTO
WYOMING ALLOWING EASTERLY FLOW TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA AND BRINGING
ANOTHER BATCH OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BY EARLY AFTERNOON. STRONG
CURVATURE OF SYSTEM WILL SLOW MOVEMENT DOWN KEEPING SHOWERS GOING
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. SURFACE TO 700 MB LOW PRESSURE CENTERED OVER
EASTERN MONTANA WILL BRING NORTHEAST WINDS AND WRAP AROUND PRECIPITATION
TO MOST OF THE AREA OVERNIGHT SUNDAY...ENDING EARLY MONDAY MORNING IN
THE EAST AS SYSTEM FINALLY MOVES OUT. MODELS INDICATING SIGNIFICANT
PRECIPITATION TOTALS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS WITH MILES CITY PROGGED TO
GET THREE INCHES BY SUNDAY EVENING...THIS IS PROBABLY A BIT OVER DONE
DUE TO CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK BUT STILL EXPECT A GOOD SOAKING ACROSS THE
AREA. A WEAK DISTURBANCE MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN MONTANA MONDAY AFTERNOON
PRODUCING A SLIGHT CHANCE OF PRECIP IN THE FAR NORTHEAST ZONES BUT
PARTLY CLOUDY ELSEWHERE. CHAMBERS

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
MODELS ALL CONSISTENT ON BRINGING DRY AND WARM WEATHER FOR THE EXTENDED
PERIOD. UPPER TROUGH SWINGS THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT AND SHOULD BE EAST OF
THE AREA TUESDAY. THE ONE THING TO WATCH IS THE AVN WAS BRINGING A WEAK
WAVE OVER THE BUILDING RIDGE AND PRODUCING MID LEVEL OMEGA OVER NORTHERN
WYOMING TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT. WILL LEAVE POPS OUT AS SUBSIDENCE
WITH BUILDING RIDGE SHOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO SQUELCH CONVECTION. LARGE
UPPER RIDGE THEN BUILDS IN AND HOLDS TIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. HUMPHREY

    SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 061/081 061/078 055/084 059/088 062/091 064/091 064/091
    47/T    74/W    00/B    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U
LVM 057/077 055/075 049/081 054/085 057/087 059/087 059/087
    46/T    42/W    00/U    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U
HDN 063/083 063/079 055/085 058/089 060/092 062/092 062/092
    47/T    76/W    20/B    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U
MLS 065/086 064/078 057/084 061/089 064/092 066/092 066/092
    64/T    77/W    42/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U
4BQ 065/086 064/078 060/086 061/089 063/092 065/092 065/092
    66/T    77/W    40/E    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U
BHK 064/085 062/077 057/085 059/087 062/090 064/090 064/090
    77/T    88/W    42/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U
SHR 060/083 063/078 054/084 054/086 057/088 059/088 059/088
    68/T    86/W    00/B    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U

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

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:50 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Big Horn

When: June 21, 1:48 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, Busby
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.533, -107.933

Hail, Rosebud

When: June 21, 3:14 PM MST
Where: Rosebud County, 10 mi SW of Forsyth
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.167, -106.817

Hail, Rosebud

When: June 21, 3:14 PM MST
Where: Rosebud County, 9 mi SW of Forsyth
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.167, -106.800

Hail, Big Horn

When: June 21, 7:40 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, 9 mi N of Lodge Grass
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.450, -107.350

Hail, Big Horn

When: June 21, 7:55 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, Garryowen
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.517, -107.417

Hail, Big Horn

When: June 21, 8:36 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, 8 mi S of Busby
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.417, -107.933

Hail, Rosebud

When: June 21, 9:22 PM MST
Where: Rosebud County, Birney
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.317, -106.517

Hail, Rosebud

When: June 21, 9:30 PM MST
Where: Rosebud County, Birney
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.317, -106.517

What these are

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

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, June 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: 5302847, 5297057, 5302848, 5297058, 5297059, 5297060, 5297061, 5297062.