Montana, 2002

Hail in Montana, September 4, 2002

September 4, 2002 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 hail, 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

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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 4, 8:00 PM MST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 8:00 PM MST, 55 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
900 PM MDT WED SEP 4 2002

.SHORT TERM...WILL UPDATE ZONES TO KEEP THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHWEST
AND EAST PART OF THE ZONES AS STORMS ARE POPPING UP ON RADAR...SOME
ARE PRETTY STRONG. WILL DROP MENTION OF STORMS OVER THE SOUTHWEST
ZONES. OTHERWISE REST OF FORECAST PACKAGE LOOKS GOOD.

.EXTENDED...PATTERN BECOMING MORE PROGRESSIVE DURING PERIOD. SUNDAY
STARTS OUT WITH A CONTINUED MOIST AND UNSTABLE SOUTHWEST FLOW
ALOFT...AS THE PACIFIC TROUGH MOVES INLAND. BY MONDAY...UPPER LOW
BECOMES CUTOFF ACROSS SOUTHERN MONTANA. OLD MRF SLOWER THAN THE
NEW AVN/ECMWF MODELS. WEAK RIDGE BUILDS INTO AREA BY MONDAY NIGHT
THROUGH WEDNESDAY FOR A RETURN TO DRIER WEATHER. MONDAY STILL LOOKS
LIKE A COOL RAINY DAY AS SURFACE HIGH PUSHES SOUTH FOR GOOD UPSLOPE
FLOW FOR THE NORTH CENTRAL MT. WILLIAMSON DC

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF EE 050/074 045/072 046 08344
    BEEBB 072/050 075/048 065/044 073/045 073 43303440000
CTB WE 047/069 046/066 043 08655
    BEEBB 068/046 072/044 060/039 068/040 068 42203440000
HLN EE 054/083 055/079 051 08134
    BEEBB 078/046 077/045 071/045 075/044 073 4050900-000
BZN EE 048/081 045/074 043 08234
    BEEBB 074/044 074/040 072/040 072/040 072 4050900-000
WEY EE 040/068 042/065 040 08244
    BEEBB 065/034 069/037 069/033 067/031 068 43324240000
DLN EE 050/075 047/072 045 08133
    BEEBB 072/039 071/042 070/039 072/037 070 4050900-000
HVR WE 053/077 050/072 046 08555
    BEEBB 073/046 077/049 066/048 074/047 074 42203340000
LWT EE 051/076 048/071 046 08345
    BEEBB 072/048 073/047 064/042 070/039 071 43303440000
.TFX...NONE

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 152 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Fergus

When
September 4, 8:55 PM MST
Where
Fergus County, Winifred
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.550, -109.367

A severe thunderstorm produced 1.00 inch hail at Winifred 3E.

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5316773.