Damaging Winds in Montana, May 28, 2002

Name: Damaging Winds in Montana, May 28, 2002
Start: 2002-05-28T15:55
End: 2002-05-28T16:35
Location: Montana

May 28, 2002 · NWS BYZ · 2 events in 1 county or zone

2 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

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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 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 28, 2:04 PM MST, 1 hour 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 2:04 PM MST, 1 hour 51 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT...COR TO CCF NUMBERS...
304 PM MDT TUE MAY 28 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR WED...THU...FRI...

FAIRLY STRONG SHORTWAVE CURRENTLY PUSHING ACROSS WESTERN MONTANA. BEST
DYNAMICS WITH THE WAVE PUSHING ACROSS NORTHERN MONTANA. WEAK
RETURNS ALREADY SHOWING UP IN WESTERN/CENTRAL ZONES EARLY THIS AFTERNOON
ON RADAR. EXPECT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO PUSH ACROSS THE COUNTY
WARNING AREA TONIGHT...ENDING WEST THEN EAST. DEWPOINTS HANGING IN UPPER
40S EASTERN ZONES WITH FAIR LIS AND SOME CAPE. WITH INVERTED V SOUNDING
WILL HAVE TO MONITOR THIS AREA FOR GUSTY WINDS. BUT OVERALL CAPE AND
SHEAR NOT SUPPORTING TOO MUCH AS FAIR AS SEVERE CHANCES GO THIS
EVENING.

WEDNESDAY...UPPER RIDGE REMAINS OVER AREA. LOW LEVEL TEMPERATURES
INCREASE FOR A 3-5 DEGREE WARM UP ACROSS AREA. VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY
OF FORCING SHOWING UP ON MODELS AND LITTLE TO NO INSTABILITY OVER AREA
AND WILL GO DRY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

THURSDAY...UPPER RIDGE REMAINS IN PLACE. WEAK FORCING MOVES ACROSS
AREA...MAINLY TO THE NORTH. AGAIN VERY LITTLE INSTABILITY TO WORK WITH
BUT SOUNDING DATA SUGGESTS SOME INSTABILITY OVER HIGHER TERRAIN FOR
ISOLATED POPS WESTERN MOUNTAIN ZONES. MODELS INDICATING SOME EASTERLY
FLOW AT LOW LEVELS SO WONT GET TOO WARM WITH TEMPERATURES.

FRIDAY...UPPER RIDGE GETS FLATTENED A BIT BUT AGAIN VERY LITTLE
SHORTWAVE ENERGY TO FIND. WILL GO WITH DRY AND NEARLY PERSISTENT
TEMPERATURES FROM THURSDAY. RASCH

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...

AVN BRINGS A STRONG SHORT WAVE ACROSS SOUTHERN MONTANA ON SATURDAY.
SURFACE LOW PROGGED TO MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL WYOMING DURING THE DAY
SATURDAY WHICH WILL HELP TO BRING A GOOD WIND SHEAR PROFILE TO SC/SE MT.
MOISTURE WILL ALSO BE ADVECTING INTO THE AREA...HELPING TO DESTABILIZE
THE ATMOSPHERE. BASED ON ABOVE REASONING...WILL RAISE POPS FOR SATURDAY.
AS THE WAVE KICKS EAST ON SUNDAY...WEAK SHORT WAVE RIDGING WILL TAKE
PLACE OVER THE AREA. FLOW ALFOT BECOMES MORE SOUTHWEST OVER SC/SE MT
AS WEST COAST TROF BEGINS SHIFTING EASTWARD...BRINGING MORE SHORT
WAVE ENERGY THROUGH THE AREA. PACIFIC COLD FRONT WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THE
TROF ON MONDAY WHICH SETS UP GOOD SURFACE CONVERGENCE. IN ADDITION...MRF
IS INDICATING A SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE CONNECTION AND WILL THUS CONTINUE
SCATTERED CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION MONDAY AND TUESDAY. AS WEST COAST TROF
MOVES EAST SUNDAY...HEIGHTS AND THICKNESS VALUES OVER SC/SE MT BEGIN
LOWERING. WILL ADJUST TEMPERATURES DOWN A FEW DEGREES FOR SUNDAY AND
MONDAY. RICHMOND

    WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 053/084 056/085 053/083 049/080 045/076 046/068 043/068
    40/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/T    23/T    30/B
LVM 048/082 046/082 043/080 048/077 043/073 044/067 041/067
    40/B    02/T    20/B    34/T    43/T    34/T    30/B
HDN 051/086 054/086 051/084 049/080 044/076 045/069 042/069
    40/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/T    23/T    30/B
MLS 055/086 057/086 054/084 047/076 045/075 046/071 043/071
    40/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/T    23/T    30/B
4BQ 054/085 056/085 053/083 048/078 046/076 047/072 044/072
    40/B    00/B    00/B    24/T    43/T    34/T    30/B
BHK 053/083 055/084 052/082 046/074 044/073 045/071 042/071
    40/B    00/B    00/B    00/B    02/T    23/T    30/B
SHR 049/082 051/085 048/082 047/077 045/074 046/072 043/072
    40/B    00/B    00/B    34/T    43/T    35/T    30/B

.BYZ...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Yellowstone

When: May 28, 3:55 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, 18 mi NW of Billings
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.983, -108.750

Thunderstorm Wind, Yellowstone

When: May 28, 4:35 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, 5 mi NE of Shepherd
Measured: 60 kt (69 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.000, -108.283

What these are

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.

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: 5290469, 5290470.