Name: Tornadoes in Montana, June 28, 2002
Start: 2002-06-28T19:45
End: 2002-06-28T20:30
Location: Montana

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: 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 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 Jun 28, 7:45 PM MST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 28, 7:45 PM MST, 0 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
845 PM MDT FRI JUN 28 2002

.SHORT TERM...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
PART OF THE CWA AT THE TIME. THE SEVERE THREAT HAS ENDED FOR MOST OF
THE CWA...EXCEPT FOR JUDITH BASIN AND FERGUS COUNTIES. ONCE THE
STORMS MOVE OUT OF THE AREA WILL DROP POPS. WILL KEEP SCATTERED POPS
FOR THE FAR WESTERN ZONES. BEST CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
LOOK TO BE TOMORROW MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON. CURRENT FORECAST
HANDLES THIS WELL.

EXTENDED...SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL PERSIST OVER THE CWA THROUGH
THE EXTENDED PERIOD. TUESDAY LOOKS TO BE DRY AS A SHORT WAVE RIDGE
SWINGS THROUGH THE REGION. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND
EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY UNDER THE SOUTHWEST
FLOW. TEMPERATURES DURING THIS PERIOD WILL REMAIN NEAR NORMAL. MEIER

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NU 058/078 050/082 050 14240
    BBBBB 080/045 078/048 082/048 080/048 080 00011133333
CTB NU 056/074 048/076 050 14430
    BBBBB 075/042 077/046 078/048 078/048 078 00011133333
HLN NU 058/080 050/084 052 14441
    BBBBB 082/050 080/050 082/050 082/050 082 00011133333
BZN BU 052/082 045/084 047 14232
    BBBBB 082/045 077/049 080/049 080/049 081 00011133333
WEY BU 044/078 040/072 040 14221
    BBBBB 073/041 076/045 075/045 075/045 075 00011133333
DLN NU 053/077 044/082 048 14231
    BBBBB 081/045 078/048 080/050 082/050 082 00011133333
HVR NU 060/080 052/083 052 14230
    BBBBB 081/048 078/050 082/050 082/050 082 00011133333
LWT NU 057/078 048/081 050 14441
    BBBBB 079/044 079/050 080/050 080/050 080 00011133333=

.TFX...FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR GLACIER COUNTY (ZONES 9 AND 10).

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 28, 4:11 PM MST, 3 hours 34 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
511 PM MDT FRI JUN 28 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0445 PM    9 SE DILLON               MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
06/28/02   BEAVERHEAD

NNNN

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 126 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Judith Basin

When: June 28, 7:45 PM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: Judith Basin County, Hobson
Rating: F0
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.000, -109.867

A severe thunderstorm moved across the far eastern portions of Judith Basin County and into the far western sections of Fergus county around 2000 MST. Wind gusts to near 70 mph were reported from Hobson to Hilger, with 60 mph winds recorded in Lewistown A tornado did touch down just west of Buffalo at approximately 2000 MST, and then moved northeast into central Fergus county. The tornado finally dissipated about 10 miles southeast of Moore. This tornado made several brief touchdowns, and was an F0. The longest tornado path on the ground was less than one half mile. Wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph were reported along the entire path. One shed was destroyed, and the remainder of the damage was limited to objects not secured down. Near 1930 MST, a small ultra-light plane was damaged while trying to land south of Lewistown. Wind gusts were estimated near 60 mph.

Tornado, Fergus

When: June 28, 8:00 PM MST to 8:30 PM MST
Where: Fergus County, Moore
Rating: F0
Path length: 10 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.983, -109.683

A severe thunderstorm moved across the far eastern portions of Judith Basin County and into the far western sections of Fergus county around 2000 MST. Wind gusts to near 70 mph were reported from Hobson to Hilger, with 60 mph winds recorded in Lewistown A tornado did touch down just west of Buffalo at approximately 2000 MST, and then moved northeast into central Fergus county. The tornado finally dissipated about 10 miles southeast of Moore. This tornado made several brief touchdowns, and was an F0. The longest tornado path on the ground was less than one half mile. Wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph were reported along the entire path. One shed was destroyed, and the remainder of the damage was limited to objects not secured down. Near 1930 MST, a small ultra-light plane was damaged while trying to land south of Lewistown. Wind gusts were estimated near 60 mph.

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Montana, 2002 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: 5300624, 5300623.