Funnel Cloud in Montana, April 29, 2003

Name: Funnel Cloud in Montana, April 29, 2003
Start: 2003-04-29T15:25
End: 2003-04-29T15:30
Location: Montana

April 29, 2003 · NWS MSO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Funnel cloud reported by the general public and severe weather spotters one mile south of Missoula.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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
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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 happened

The episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.

Funnel cloud reported by the general public and severe weather spotters one mile south of Missoula.

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 29, 1:45 PM MST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 29, 1:45 PM MST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
245 PM MDT TUE APR 29 2003

.SHORT TERM...A BROAD UPPER LOW WILL DEVELOP OVER SOUTH CENTRAL IDAHO
TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.  ON THE NORTHERLY SIDE OF THIS SYSTEM...A
FAIRLY STATIONARY AND IMPRESSIVE AREA OF PRECIPITATION WILL DEVELOP
FROM ROUGHLY SALMON NORTH TO MISSOULA AND ALSO EXTEND EAST TO WEST
FROM NEAR BUTTE TO THE EASTERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS. THE SAPPHIRE AND
BITTERROOT MOUNTAINS APPEAR MOST IN LINE FOR THE HEAVIEST
PRECIPITATION. SNOW LEVELS SHOULD LOWER TO 5000 TO 5500 FEET
OVERNIGHT. WE WILL BE ISSUING HEAVY SNOW WARNINGS AND SNOW ADVISORIES
FOR PARTS OF THE REGION...PLEASE SEE GTFWSWMSO...WINTER WEATHER
STATEMENT FOR DETAILS. THE CITY OF BUTTE IS LIKELY ONLY TO
SEE A FEW INCHES OF VERY WET SNOW AT THE MOST. THE GFS MODEL SEEMS TO
HAVE THE BEST OVERALL DEPICTION WITH THE MOISTURE CONTINUE TO SHIFT
WESTWARD INTO THE CLEARWATERS AND GRANGEVILLE/OROFINO AREA WEDNESDAY
NIGHT. THE SYSTEM WILL FALL APART WITH A WEAK RIDGE OF HIGH
PRESSURE RETURNING THURSDAY.

.LONG TERM... THE NEXT SYSTEM APPEARS ON TRACK TO DIG FURTHER TO THE
WEST AND SHIFT ADDITIONAL MOISTURE ACROSS THE REGION BY SATURDAY.
THE TWO MAIN SOLUTIONS IN THE EXTENDED ARE THE EASTERN PACIFIC
TROUGH PERSISTING AS SHOWN BY THE ECMWF AND MORE PROGRESSIVE WITH
WEAK RIDGING ON THE GFS.  GIVEN CURRENT UPPER BLOCKING PATTERN IN
THE GULF OF ALASKA...EITHER SOLUTION IS POSSIBLE.  HOWEVER...WE ARE
TRENDING FOR SLIGHT WARMING AND DRYING BY TUESDAY BASED ON STRONGER
WESTERLY JET DEVELOPING ACROSS MID PACIFIC. BAUCK

.MSO...HEAVY SNOW WARNING BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE...NORTHERN LEMHI AND
BUTTE PINTLAR REGIONS ABOVE 6000 FEET TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY.
SNOW ADVISORY LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING EASTERN CLEARWATER
MOUNTAINS ABOVE 5000 FEET.

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB EBB 038/057 038/061 034/063 29453322
     EEEB 034/060 033/056 034/060 033/065 2933333222
FCA WBB 035/054 035/058 032/062 29353222
     EEEB 031/058 034/054 032/056 032/061 2933332222
POL WBB 035/053 035/058 033/062 29453222
     EEEB 033/059 034/055 034/057 034/062 2933332222
MSO RBB 038/049 037/059 032/062 29775322
     EEEB 032/060 035/054 033/057 032/062 2933333222
HMM RBB 037/048 036/057 032/063 29785322
     EEEB 032/061 034/055 032/058 031/063 2933333222
BTM OEB 031/040 029/053 028/057 29785322
     EEEB 027/056 027/050 026/053 026/058 2934343333
ORO RBB 043/058 043/064 036/066 29455322
     EEEB 036/063 036/062 037/064 035/069 2933333221
GRV RBB 038/051 036/058 032/062 29655422
     EEEB 033/060 033/055 034/062 033/067 2933333221
SMN WEB 037/052 035/056 032/061 29763322
     EEEB 031/060 031/054 030/058 029/063 2934343322

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 29, 2:00 PM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

MTZ001>007-043-IDZ005>010-301200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
300 PM MDT TUE APR 29 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH
CENTRAL IDAHO

.DAY ONE... TONIGHT

MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN
NORTHERN LEMHI...THE BUTTE PINTLAR REGION...AND THE BITTERROOT AND
SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS ABOVE 6000 FEET TONIGHT.  THE SNOW LEVEL WILL
BRIEFLY LOWER TO AROUND 5000 FEET TONIGHT...WITH WET SNOW
ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES LIKELY IN THE HIGHER VALLEYS.  SEE
GTFWSWMSO...WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...FOR DETAILS ABOUT HEAVY SNOW
WARNINGS AND SNOW ADVISORIES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY MAINLY ABOVE
6000 FEET IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS FROM THE BUTTE PINTLAR REGION
WESTWARD TO THE BITTERROOTS AND PARTS OF THE CLEARWATERS
MOUNTAINS. THE MAIN AREA OF PRECIPITATION WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST
INTO CENTRAL IDAHO AND WEAKEN WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  SEE GTFWSWMSO...
WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE...FOR DETAILS ABOUT HEAVY SNOW WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Missoula

When: April 29, 3:25 PM MST to 3:30 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, 1 mi S of Missoula
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 47.037, -113.924 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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: 5348295.