Strong Wind in Montana, April 27, 2003

Name: Strong Wind in Montana, April 27, 2003
Start: 2003-04-27T12:30
End: 2003-04-27T12:30
Location: Montana

April 27, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A strong wind gust caused a camper trailer to be blown over, as the vehicle was traveling north on Interstate 15 near Dearborn.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $20,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.

A strong wind gust caused a camper trailer to be blown over, as the vehicle was traveling north on Interstate 15 near Dearborn.

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 27, 8:15 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 27, 8:15 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
915 AM MDT SUN APR 27 2003

.SHORT TERM...WILL UPDATE THIS MORNING TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THE
SKY CONDITION. PATTERN SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY. CLOSED LOW OVER
SOUTHERN CANADA SENDING CLOUDS ACROSS THE BORDER AND OVER THE
NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA. CLOUDS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTH AS
MODELS DROP UPPER TROF AXIS FURTHER SOUTH TONIGHT WHILE FILLING IT
AT THE SAME TIME. CLOUDS OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST MONTANA ASSOCIATED
WITH UPPER LEVEL FEATURE THAT CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST AND AWAY FROM
THE AREA. EMANUEL

.EXTENDED...MODELS IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT THE FIRST PART OF THE
PERIOD. AREA WILL BE AFFECTED BY AN UPPER TROUGH ON WED THEN A WEAK
RIDGE COULD BUILD OVER THE AREA ON THU. DID DROP THE MENTION OF
PRECIPITATION FOR THU BUT FEEL A LITTLE UNEASY AS AIRMASS IS STILL
FORECAST TO BE WEAKLY UNSTABLE. SW FLOW SHOULD DEVELOP ON FRI WITH
INCREASED CHANCES FOR CONVECTION. CURRENT IDEA OF SCATTERED POPS SW
TO DRY OVER THE FAR ERN ZONES LOOKS GOOD. SAT ECMWF AND GFS DIVERGE
AS ECMWF CONTINUES THE SW FLOW AND GFS GOES TO A MORE ZONAL FLOW.
FEEL ECMWF OR A COMPROMISE OF GFS AND ECMWF WILL VERIFY BETTER THAN
THE GFS. WILL CONTINUE WITH SAME FORECAST AS FRI BUT FEEL CONVECTION
COULD REACH CENTRAL MT BY THEN. BLANK

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BE 054/031 054/034 050 02023
    EEBBB 033/054 033/058 035/060 037/061 037 33333112223
CTB EE 048/025 050/028 048 02322
    BEBBB 029/052 031/057 035/057 035/057 035 33333112221
HLN BE 056/031 056/034 052 02023
    EEEBB 036/056 036/060 037/060 037/064 037 33344112224
BZN BE 057/030 056/034 053 02024
    EEEBE 034/054 030/057 032/058 034/058 034 44344112224
WEY EJ 045/018 046/023 046 02245
    JEEEE 029/046 026/048 027/049 029/049 029 55344113334
DLN EE 052/028 055/032 053 02134
    EEEEE 033/052 031/055 032/055 033/057 033 44444112224
HVR EE 055/031 055/032 052 02222
    BEBBB 034/056 031/061 037/063 037/065 037 33311110001
LWT BE 054/030 054/032 052 02023
    EEBBB 032/048 031/056 035/058 035/058 035 33333110004

.TFX...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 27, 4:25 AM MST, 8 hours 5 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-280010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
525 AM MDT SUN APR 27 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...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

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.

Event by event

1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Strong Wind, Cascade

When: April 27, 12:30 PM MST
Where: Cascade forecast zone
Measured: 48 kt (55 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER

What these are

Strong Wind: Non-thunderstorm winds below high wind criteria that nonetheless caused damage or casualties.

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 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: 5348102.