Montana, 2002

Tornado and Flash Flooding in Montana, June 22 to 23, 2002

June 22 to 23, 2002 · NWS GGW · 10 events in 4 counties and zones

4 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$151,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
10

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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 22, 12:29 PM MST, 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 22, 12:29 PM MST, 41 minutes before
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
129 PM MDT SAT JUN 22 2002

.SHORT TERM...FOCUS OF SHORT TERM WILL ONCE AGAIN BE ON SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. DEWPOINTS ACROSS REGION ARE SOLIDLY IN THE
60S...WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER TO MID 80S. THIS IS PRODUCING
VERY HIGH CAPE VALUES. THUNDERSTORMS FIRING OVER SOUTHWEST PORTIONS
OF CWA HAVE EXHIBITED EXPLOSIVE DEVELOPMENT AND SHOULD MOVE INTO AN
AREA OF HIGHER INSTABILITY. LIMITING FACTOR SO FAR TODAY HAS BEEN
LACK OF ANY FORCING. AS SHORT WAVE MOVES CLOSER TO CWA EXPECT
WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. AS PER COORDINATION WITH
SPC...BYZ...AND TFX...EXPECT BEST DEVELOPMENT IN THE SHORT TERM OVER
WESTERN HALF OF CWA. REST OF SHORT TERM LOOKS UNSETTLED AS 700MB LOW
TAKES ITS TIME MOVING INTO THE DAKOTAS ON SUNDAY. LINGERING SHOWERS
OVER THE EAST ON MONDAY. WILL NOT MAKE MUCH IN THE WAY OF CHANGES.

.LONG TERM...MODELS STARTING TO SHOW A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT PATTERN
THAN PREVIOUS RUNS. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE THE
WEATHER ON WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. MODELS ARE STARTING TO BREAK DOWN
THE RIDGE A BIT ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. WITH SUCH AN AMPLIFIED RIDGE
IN PLACE BELIEVE THIS TO BE A BIT QUICK. WILL CONTINUE CURRENT TREND
OF WARM AND DRY THROUGH SATURDAY.  POHL

KGGW TBB 058/075 056/083 056/087 87674111
     BBBB 057/089 056/090 056/090 056/090 8700000000
KGDV TBB 058/076 056/083 054/085 87676111
     BBBB 057/089 056/090 056/090 056/090 8700000000

.GGW...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #453 WESTERN HALF OF CWA UNTIL
01Z...

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 22, 9:46 AM MST, 3 hours 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
1046 AM MDT SAT JUN 22 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0400 AM    8 NE CULBERTSON           MT   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/22/02   ROOSEVELT

0215 AM    10NE LINDSAY              MT   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/22/02   DAWSON

1230 AM    POPLAR                    MT   .75 INCH HAIL
06/22/02   ROOSEVELT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 144 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:09 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 hail, 3 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Garfield

When
June 22, 1:10 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 4 mi ENE of Mosby
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.017, -107.783

Tornado, Petroleum

When
June 22, 1:30 PM MST to 1:33 PM MST
Where
Petroleum County, 15 mi SE of Winnett
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
50 yd
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.850, -108.133

Brief tornado touch down reported by spotter 15 SE Winnett.

Hail, Valley

When
June 22, 2:11 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 4 mi SW of Hinsdale
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
48.367, -107.150

Thunderstorm Wind, Phillips

When
June 22, 2:43 PM MST
Where
Phillips County, 20 mi S of Zortman
Measured
61 kt (70 mph)
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.633, -108.533

70 mph wind gust reported by motorist on US 191 just north of the Missouri River.

Flash Flood, Garfield

When
June 22, 3:00 PM MST to 5:00 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 19 mi SW of Sand Spgs
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Over 3 inches of rainfall fell in 1 hour, over an area that has been in a long term drought. The water ran off the fields and flooded pastures and tore out several fences throughout southwestern Garfield County. The total rainfall in this portion of the county was around 4.5" with the worst of the damage along the Sage Hen Creek drainage.

Hail, Phillips

When
June 22, 4:14 PM MST
Where
Phillips County, 27 mi SSW of Malta
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.983, -108.083

Hail, Garfield

When
June 22, 4:55 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 25 mi SE of Cohagen
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
46.783, -106.233

Thunderstorm Wind, Valley

When
June 22, 5:51 PM MST
Where
Valley County, 25 mi SW of Ft Peck
Measured
66 kt (76 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
47.767, -106.833

78 mph wind reported at King Coulee RAWS.

Flash Flood, Garfield

When
June 22, 8:00 PM MST to 10:00 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 7 mi E of Van Norman
Property damage
$100,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

3 to 9 inches of rain fell over eastern Garfield County in less than 5 hours. Flooding closed Highway 200 from Jordan to the junction of Highway 24 for most of the night and caused some damage along bridges on Highway 200.

Flash Flood, Garfield

When
June 23, 5:00 AM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, 15 mi NE of Cohagen
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.278, -106.993 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy rainfall from the night of June 22, 2002 contributed to the failure of the Ross Dam #2 stock dam. Rainfall amounts up to 9 inches were reported in the drainage basin that flow into the dam. The dam was nearly empty prior to the heavy rain event, and then filled up three-quarters of the way to a series of holes which had been dug by animals. The water pushed through the holes, and caused the dam to then collapse. The subsequent deluge downstream flooded out the basement of a home, lifted several older vehicles and transported them downstream, and caused considerable damage to a culvert. The damage to the culvert lead to the U-ALL Road being washed out.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.
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.
Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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, 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: 5305897, 5305898, 5305899, 5305901, 5305905, 5305900, 5305902, 5305903, 5305904, 5305906.