Hail in Montana, June 21, 2002

Name: Hail in Montana, June 21, 2002
Start: 2002-06-21T19:20
End: 2002-06-21T20:22
Location: Montana

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

A funnel cloud was reported in Anaconda as a strong thunderstorm moved through the area. Another storm brought one inch hail to Butte.

Where it happened

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.

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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

A funnel cloud was reported in Anaconda as a strong thunderstorm moved through the area. Another storm brought one inch hail to Butte.

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 Jun 21, 1:45 PM MST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 1:45 PM MST, 5 hours 35 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
245 PM MDT FRI JUN 21 2002

.SHORT TERM...CONVECTIVE EVENING AHEAD WITH POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN
AND INITIALLY GUSTY WINDS ACROSS SOUTHERN HIGH VALLEY ZONES. ISSUED
FLASH FLOOD WATCH EARLIER FOR SEVERELY BURNED AREAS IN RAVALLI
COUNTY DUE TO HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES AND UPSTREAM
DEVELOPMENT OF STORMS. WEAK VORT LOBE AND GOOD UPPER DIFFLUENCE
COMBINING WITH STRONG SURFACE HEATING WILL PROVIDE A CONVECTIVE
ENVIRONMENT UNTIL SUNDOWN. FIRST FEW STORMS ENTERING LEMHI COUNTY
WILL BE CLOSE TO SEVERE DUE TO 50 DEGREE TEMPERATURE/DEW POINT
SPREADS AND INVERTED-V TYPE SOUNDINGS. SMALL HAIL MAY BE ABUNDANT
WITH STORMS THIS EVENING. SATURDAY LOOKS MORE ACTIVE AS STRONGER
SHORTWAVE MOVES ACROSS ID. INSTABILITY WILL BE DRIVEN BY DYNAMICS
WITH LESS SURFACE HEATING TO WORK WITH...ALTHOUGH COVERAGE WILL BE
MORE WIDESPREAD AND LINGERING POTENTIAL OF HEAVY RAINFALL. WILL KEEP
POPS HIGH THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING...BUT TAPER TO CHANCE POPS WEST
CENTRAL ID. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND A WEAK PAC SHORTWAVE ENOUGH TO
KEEP A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON ALSO.
TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER TOMORROW DUE TO AMOUNT OF CLOUD COVER BUT
HEIGHTS AND THICKNESSES REMAIN SEASONAL OR ABOVE THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
BOLDT

.LONG TERM...ALL MODELS TEND TOWARDS A HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE BUILDING
IN THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE ONLY PRECIPITATION LOOKS TO BE IN THE
SOUTH ON TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING. LIS OF -3 AND LAPSE RATES OF
OVER 8 DEGREES C /KM FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION.  OTHER
THAN THAT SHOULD BE DRY WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE
PERIOD. GILCHRIST

.MSO...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR RAVALLI COUNTY UNTIL 10 PM MDT

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB WBB 056/080 053/080 050/081 28144210
     UUUU 049/083 050/086 051/086 051/087 3300000010
FCA TEB 054/079 050/079 048/080 28666310
     UUUU 046/082 048/084 050/084 050/085 3300000000
POL TEB 055/078 053/079 050/079 28666310
     UUUU 048/080 049/085 050/085 050/086 3300000000
MSO TEB 054/078 051/080 048/081 28988410
     UUUU 051/083 051/085 053/085 051/086 3300000000
HMM TEB 055/077 053/082 049/083 28988410
     UUUU 052/085 053/087 055/087 052/088 3300000000
BTM TEB 050/074 046/077 045/080 28988221
     UUUU 044/082 046/083 047/082 046/083 3301100000
ORO WEB 062/083 058/085 057/086 28644310
     UUUU 055/088 056/089 055/090 055/091 3300000000
GRV WEB 056/082 056/084 053/085 28655410
     UUUU 052/087 055/087 053/087 053/088 3300000000
SMN WBB 055/079 050/082 049/083 28977121
     UUUU 051/085 051/085 053/086 052/087 3301100000

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Silver Bow

When: June 21, 7:20 PM MST
Where: Silver Bow County, Butte
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.000, -112.533

Funnel Cloud, Deer Lodge

When: June 21, 8:22 PM MST
Where: Deer Lodge County, Anaconda
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.061, -113.068 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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: 5301721, 5301720.