Name: High Wind in Montana, September 1, 2002
Start: 2002-09-01T16:30
End: 2002-09-01T16:30
Location: Montana

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 1, 2:00 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 1, 2:00 PM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT SUN SEP 1 2002

.SHORT TERM...SHORT WAVE MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN MONTANA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW MOVING ACROSS
SOUTHERN CANADA PROVIDING GRADIENT FOR STRONG SURFACE WIND. WIND
SPEEDS SHOULD GRADUALLY DECREASE TONIGHT AS THE LOW CONTINUES TO
TRACK EAST. SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA THIS
EVENING CAUSING THE WINDS TO SHIFT TO A NORTHWEST TO NORTH DIRECTION
FOR A FEW HOURS. UPPER RIDGING RETURNS TO THE AREA MONDAY FOR
WARMER AND DRY CONDITIONS. RIDGE AXIS SHIFTS EAST TUESDAY WITH
MOISTURE RETURNING AND A CHANCE FOR CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY TUESDAY
NIGHT. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL
NORMS. EMANUEL

.EXTENDED...MEDIUM RANGE MODELS HAVE ONCE AGAIN DIVERGED IN THEIR
SOLUTIONS WITH THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH THAT AFFECTS THE WESTERN
CONUS LATE THIS WEEK. ECMWF CONTINUES TO BE CONSISTENT WITH HOLDING
THE TROUGH NEARLY QUASI-STATIONARY THROUGH SATURDAY...WITH SOUTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT KEEPING SCATTERED POPS OVER THE CWA. THE MRF IS ONCE
AGAIN ACCELERATING THE TROUGH EASTWARD...OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES BY
SATURDAY MORNING...THEN BRINGING ZONAL FLOW ALOFT TO THE STATE FOR
DRY AND WINDY CONDITIONS NEXT WEEKEND. MORNING AVN RUN APPEARS TO BE
MORE IN LINE WITH THE ECMWF...SO WILL STICK WITH THIS SCENARIO...AND
KEEP CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE ENTIRE EXTENDED PERIOD. MPJ

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 047/080 050/086 052 08100
    BEEEB 076/048 072/044 066/042 068/043 069 13223333222
CTB BB 045/075 046/080 045 08100
    BEEEB 072/043 068/041 065/040 066/042 068 13233333222
HLN BB 055/086 053/085 054 08100
    BEEEB 083/049 075/046 069/044 069/045 071 13223333222
BZN BB 048/080 045/084 045 08-00
    BEEEB 079/043 074/042 070/040 070/041 070 23223333222
WEY BB 036/075 038/076 037 08-00
    BEEEB 072/035 069/034 065/032 065/032 066 23223333222
DLN BB 047/081 048/084 046 08000
    BEEEB 076/044 072/042 068/040 068/040 070 23223333222
HVR BB 050/080 048/087 052 08200
    BEEEB 080/048 074/045 068/042 069/043 070 13233333222
LWT BB 048/077 048/084 050 08100
    BEEEB 077/047 073/045 069/042 069/042 071 13223333222

.TFX...NONE.

Event by event

1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Jefferson

When: September 1, 4:30 PM MST
Where: Jefferson forecast zone
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

A wind gust to 65 mph occurred, blowing over a 50 foot cotton wood tree.

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

More

Every storm in Montana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, September 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: 5316771.