1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 May 2, 8:15 AM MST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
915 AM MDT THU MAY 2 2002
.SHORT TERM...WE ARE IN STORE FOR ANOTHER WINDY DAY IN CENTRAL
MONTANA. WINDS HAVE BEGUN TO RAPIDLY INCREASE THIS MORNING...A
LITTLE STRONGER THAN EXPECTED IN THE HAVRE AREA. HIGH WIND WARNING
STILL LOOKS MARGINAL FOR THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND ADJACENT
PLAINS FOR LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING..BUT WILL LET IT RIDE.
BATCH OF HIGH CLOUDS ARE CURRENTLY MOVING SOUTH OUT OF SOUTHERN
ALBERTA...AND WILL ADJUST SKY CONDITIONS ALONG THE HI-LINE
ACCORDINGLY. TEMPERATURES HAVE STARTED OUT A BIT WARMER THAN
ANTICIPATED IN NORTHERN AREAS...BUT FEEL THAT CURRENT HIGHS ARE STILL
ON TRACK. OTHERWISE WILL MAKE ONLY MINOR WORDING ADJUSTMENTS. JCA
.EXTENDED...GENERAL UNSETTLED SPRING PATTER WILL PERSIST. CURRENT
EXTENDED FORECAST LOOKS GOOD AND WILL NOT MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES. CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER BRITISH COLUMBIA WILL MAINTAIN A
MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT OVER THE AREA. UPPER LOW MOVES SLOWLY
TOWARD THE STATE MONDAY BEFORE WEAKENING AND OPENING INTO A BROAD
UPPER TROF TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION EACH
DAY LOOKS REASONABLE WITH TEMPERATURES CONTINUING BELOW NORMAL.
EMANUEL
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NW 067/035 050/025 052 08025
EWOOE 025/051 026/048 025/045 026/050 028 22233444422
CTB NW 063/032 046/023 048 08034
EWOOE 024/048 026/044 024/043 025/048 025 22233444422
HLN NE 068/036 054/028 056 08022
EWOOE 030/054 028/050 027/048 028/052 028 22233444422
BZN BE 065/034 055/026 055 08022
EEOOE 026/054 027/047 025/045 028/050 028 22233444422
WEY BE 055/026 050/022 048 08112
EWOOB 022/047 024/044 020/042 018/046 018 22233444422
DLN BE 063/033 057/028 056 08012
EWEEE 028/053 027/050 025/046 024/052 024 22233333322
HVR NE 068/034 052/025 054 08024
ECOOB 026/053 025/050 024/045 025/050 025 22223444422
LWT NE 066/034 052/027 053 08024
ECOOB 026/052 026/047 025/045 024/050 024 22233444422
.TFX...HIGH WIND WARNING THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE
ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT AND ADJACENT PLAINS.1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High winds developed over Blaine County during the morning hours of the 2nd and continued till the early morning hours of the 3rd. At the Hays DOT sensor, winds were sustained over 40 mph, with gusts to 50 mph.
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, May 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: 5291546.