High Wind in Montana, May 22, 2002

Name: High Wind in Montana, May 22, 2002
Start: 2002-05-22T15:22
End: 2002-05-22T15:22
Location: Montana

May 22, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 May 22, 1:08 PM MST, 2 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 22, 1:08 PM MST, 2 hours 14 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
208 PM MDT WED MAY 22 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR THU...FRI...SAT...
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE THIS PACKAGE...AT LEAST INITIALLY.

WINDS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA HAVE NOT LIVED UP TO POTENTIAL. AM
LOOKING TO DROP THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR THAT AREA. NEW MESO ETA NOT
GIVING MUCH FOR SNOW OVER THE MOUNTAINS EVEN FOR THE BIG HORNS. WILL
LET THE WINTER STORM WARNING EXPIRE AND DROP THE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR
PARTS OF CENTRAL MONTANA. THINGS ARE IFFY OVER THE EASTERN ZONES FOR
HIGH WINDS. BUT FOR THE TIME BEING...WILL HOLD ON TO THE HIGH WIND
WARNING FOR THAT AREA.

SOME INSTABILITY REMAINS OUT OVER THE EASTERN ZONES AND WILL MENTION
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THERE THIS EVENING.

BEYOND TONIGHT...CONDITIONS SETTLE DOWN A BIT. BUT SOME SHOWERS COULD
PERSIST ON THURSDAY OVER MOSTLY THE THE AREA WITH SOME LINGERING
INSTABILITY. A SHORT WAVE MOVES OVER THE AREA ON FRIDAY. BOTH AVN AND
ETA SHOW THIS FEATURE. WHILE MOISTURE LOOKS LIMITED WITH THE SYSTEM...
BELIEVE A MENTION OF SCATTERED SHOWERS IS REASONABLE.

FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY APPEARS MORE TRANQUIL. AVN BUILDS A STRONG
RIDGE OVER THE AREA. ETA...HOWEVER...THROUGH SATURDAY KEEPS THE RIDGE
AXIS FARTHER WEST WHILE AVN IS STRONGER AND MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH IT.
EITHER WAY...DRY CONDITIONS LOOK GOOD.

TEMPERATURES TRICKY. CLOUD COVER LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE A FACTOR IN
THESE. FINDING A SUITABLE MIXING LEVEL DIFFICULT. THERE MAY BE SOME
RECORD LOWS BOTH TONIGHT AND THURSDAY NIGHT.

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SUN...MON...TUE...WED...
EXTENDED MODELS REMAIN IN CLOSE AGREEMENT THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH
NEARLY ZONAL FLOW ALOFT SUNDAY AND MONDAY. MODELS BRING WEAK PACIFIC
COLD FRONT ACROSS THE AREA SUNDAY. ATMOSPHERE WILL BE SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE
SUNDAY ACROSS THE AREA WITH LIMITED MOISTURE MOVING THROUGH. CHANCE OF
ISOLATED PRECIPITATION LOOKS GOOD FOR SUNDAY. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT AND AT
THE SURFACE BEINGS BUILDING IN OVER THE AREA TUESDAY FOR A RETURN OF
WARMER TEMPERATURES AS THERMAL RIDGE BUILDS IN. RICHMOND

    THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 030/049 032/063 041/068 046/064 045/068 046/071 053/084
    73/W    03/W    00/B    20/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
LVM 025/047 028/060 035/067 044/064 041/067 044/071 051/080
    84/0    23/W    20/B    20/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
HDN 028/050 031/065 039/070 045/065 044/069 047/072 050/086
    73/W    03/W    00/B    20/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
MLS 032/051 034/064 038/071 047/064 046/068 046/071 050/085
    84/W    03/W    20/B    20/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
4BQ 030/050 033/063 037/069 045/064 044/068 045/071 049/085
    84/W    03/W    20/B    22/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
BHK 029/048 031/060 036/068 045/065 044/069 045/071 047/083
    84/W    03/W    20/B    22/E    00/B    00/B    00/B
SHR 032/049 028/059 037/066 045/063 044/066 046/069 050/082
    74/W    23/W    20/B    22/E    00/B    00/B    00/B

.BYZ...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR MOUNTAIN ZONES EXPIRES AT 4 PM MDT.
       HIGH WIND WARNING FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA
       CANCELED AT 3:30 PM MDT.
       HIGH WIND WARNING SOUTHEAST MONTANA UNTIL MIDNIGHT.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Custer

When: May 22, 3:22 PM MST
Where: Custer forecast zone
Measured: 41 kt (47 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 46.253, -105.572 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

41 mph sustained winds in Miles City

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

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, May 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: 5290473.