Tornado in Montana, April 22, 2003

Name: Tornado in Montana, April 22, 2003
Start: 2003-04-22T16:47
End: 2003-04-22T16:55
Location: Montana

April 22, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, 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 Apr 22, 1:00 PM MST, 3 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 1:00 PM MST, 3 hours 47 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
200 PM MDT TUE APR 22 2003

.SHORT TERM...WATER VAPOR INDICATES UPPER LOW OVER SOUTHERN NV WHICH
LINES UP WELL WITH AVN MODEL. RADAR FROM PIH INDICATE SHOWERS MOVING
INTO EXTREME SOUTHERN MT WITH THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WY/ID BORDER.
DIFFLUENT FLOW CONTINUES OVER CWA TONIGHT ALLOWING MOIST AIR TO MOVE
OVER SW ZONES FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. UPPER LOW TO
BE OVER CO BY WEDNESDAY WITH A SURFACE TROF OF LOW PRESSURE OVER CWA.
INVERTED TROF WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING WILL HELP AID IN
UPSLOPE, CLOUDY CONDITIONS AND RAIN SHOWERS.

MODELS INDICATE A STACKED SYSTEM OVER EASTERN CO BY THURSDAY MORNING
WITH STRONG INVERTED SURFACE TROF OVER CENTRAL MT. NEXT UPPER LOW
SYSTEM JUST MOVING ONTO PACIFIC COAST...LEAVING CWA BETWEEN WEATHER
SYSTEMS.  MODELS SEEM TO BE VERY PROGRESSIVE WITH SYSTEMS BUT NOT
SURE SYSTEM OVER CO WONT SLOW DOWN. WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES AT
THIS TIME TO GOING FORECAST. CAMP

.EXTENDED...NEXT UPPER LOW MOVES INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FRIDAY
AND HANGS AROUND IN SOME FORM THROUGH TUESDAY. THIS WILL CAUSE A
PROLONGED UNSETTLED PERIOD. THE COOLEST DAY OF THE PERIOD WILL BE
SATURDAY WHEN A PACIFIC COLD FRONT RACES THROUGH CENTRAL MONTANA.
TEMPS WILL REBOUND A LITTLE AFTER THAT. POMEROY

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF TB 042/064 041/066 040 07255
    EEEEE 058/034 048/033 051/032 053/034 058 00444444333
CTB BB 040/062 039/063 038 07233
    ENEEE 053/030 044/031 050/030 052/032 055 00333334333
HLN TB 042/065 041/067 040 07355
    EEEEE 058/036 049/030 050/029 056/031 059 03444444333
BZN TB 038/061 036/063 037 07466
    EEEEE 057/031 047/033 050/032 054/034 056 02444444333
WEY WB 030/050 030/052 033 07466
    WWWEE 046/026 038/024 041/023 045/025 047 03555555444
DLN TB 041/060 038/062 037 07566
    EEEEE 050/028 043/028 045/027 049/029 052 03444444333
HVR BB 045/070 044/069 039 07222
    EEEEE 061/038 055/031 049/030 058/032 062 00333334333
LWT TB 041/065 040/064 037 07266
    EEEEE 059/034 046/033 050/032 051/034 054 00444444333

.TFX...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 22, 5:10 AM MST, 11 hours 37 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-230010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
610 AM MDT TUE APR 22 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

NO WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN EFFECT

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Judith Basin

When: April 22, 4:47 PM MST to 4:55 PM MST
Where: Judith Basin County, Stanford
Rating: F1
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.150, -110.233

A strong thunderstorm moved over Judith Basin County during the early evening hours on the 22nd. A tornado developed 7 miles east of Stanford at 1647 MST. The tornado was on the ground for a few minutes and was very weak. Little damage was reported, but one combine was knocked off its blocks and turned 45 degrees.

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Montana, 2003 Warnings in Montana, April 2003

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: 5348203.