Name: Hail in Montana, August 12, 2003
Start: 2003-08-12T19:15
End: 2003-08-12T19:15
Location: Montana

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

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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 TFX wrote it up.

A severe thunderstorm produced 1.00 inch hail at Carter 11N.

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 Aug 12, 1:40 PM MST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 1:40 PM MST, 5 hours 35 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
240 PM MDT TUE AUG 12 2003

.DISCUSSION...

SW FLOW ALOFT BRINGING ABUNDANT UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE ACROSS THE AREA
THIS EVENING ALONG WITH SHORT WAVE AND ASSOCIATED VORTICITY CENTER
THAT MAY DEVELOP THUNDERTORMS TONIGHT. INHIBITING FACTOR ACROSS
WESTERN CWA IS CLOUDS AND CURRENT TEMPERATURES IN THE 80S ACROSS
MUCH OF CENTRAL MONTANA. TEMPERATURES NEAR 100 EAST WILL ENHANCE
THUNDERSTORMS ACTIVITY THIS EVENING. LITTLE CHANGE IN PATTERN WED...
WITH DECREASING CHANCE OF RAIN AS RIDGE STARTS TO BUILD OVER AREA.
HIGH PRESSURE CONTINUES TO BUILD OVER REGION THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
BRINGING NEAR RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES TO THE AREA AND ONLY SLIGHT
CHANCE OF MAINLY AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. STRONGER WINDS FRIDAY
AFTERNOON...20 MPH OR MORE ALONG ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT...WILL
COMBINE WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES AND LOW HUMIDITIES TO CREATE
PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS FIRE CONDITIONS.

FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...GFS RUN SHOWS A WAVE MOVING OVER THE
TOP OF THE RIDGE FRIDAY EVENING. THE RESPONSE TO THIS WAVE WILL BE
FOR A SURFACE LOW TO FORM OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN MONTANA/SOUTHERN
SASKATCHEWAN WHICH WILL CREATE DOWNSLOPE WINDS.  WILL TEMPER THESE
WIND SPEEDS FOR NOW HOPING FOR SOME CONSISTENCY IN THE MODEL RUNS.
HOWEVER...IT COULD BE A BIT WINDY FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY.
CONSEQUENTLY...NO RAIN FOR OUR AREA FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY
AND CONTINUED HOT.
DITTMANN

.SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE REBUILDS RAPIDLY BY
SUNDAY. THE MODELS KEPT DELAYING THE COOLER WEATHER BY A DAY OVER
THE LAST 3 DAYS. THUS WILL GO WITH A RIDGE OVER THE AREA FOR
CONTINUED HOT AND DRY WEATHER THROUGH TUESDAY. WILLIAMSON DC

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 057/096 059/100 061 01322
    BBUUU 097/061 092/061 092/058 091/058 092 21-00000000
CTB BB 051/092 054/094 060 01222
    BBUUU 093/057 089/057 083/055 088/055 089 22100000000
HLN BB 058/096 060/099 059 01321
    BBUUU 099/060 094/060 091/060 093/060 092 11-00000000
BZN BB 054/099 053/100 057 01321
    BBUUU 096/059 093/059 091/055 092/055 091 11000000000
WEY BB 048/091 049/093 055 01321
    UUUUU 089/050 089/051 086/044 088/044 086 11011000000
DLN BB 054/097 057/099 057 01321
    BUUUU 095/056 093/056 093/050 092/050 093 111--000000
HVR BB 060/100 062/102 062 01322
    BBUUU 100/060 095/060 094/063 094/063 095 21100000000
LWT BB 058/098 060/100 062 01322
    BBUUU 098/060 093/060 091/060 092/060 089 21-00000000

.TFX...RED FLAG WARNING TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT FOR FIRE ZONES 112...
113...114...115...116...117 AND 118.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 12, 2:15 PM MST, 5 hours before

MTZ008>015-044>055-131210-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
315 PM MDT TUE AUG 12 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A RED FLAG WARNING CONTINUES THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR ALL OF NORTH
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA FOR LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES...HIGH
FIRE DANGERS AND GUSTY WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH A MIX OF WET AND DRY
THUNDERSTORMS. PLEASE REFER TO GTFRFWTFX AND GTFRFWMSO FOR MORE
INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

INCREASING TEMPERATURES AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL CONTRIBUTE
TO VERY HIGH FIRE DANGERS THROUGH AT LEAST FRIDAY. THERE IS ALSO A
SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY. THEREFORE RED FLAG
CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE.

.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 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Chouteau

When: August 12, 7:15 PM MST
Where: Chouteau County, 11 mi N of Carter
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.950, -110.950

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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, August 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: 5377577.