Montana, 2003

Damaging Wind in Montana, August 5, 2003

August 5, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm produced a 62 mph wind gust in Belgrade.

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 happened

The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.

A severe thunderstorm produced a 62 mph wind gust in Belgrade.

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 5, 7:35 PM MST, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 7:35 PM MST, 9 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
835 PM MDT TUE AUG 5 2003

.DISCUSSION...

NO UPDATE PLANNED.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE THIS EVENING AS THE CURRENT
FORECAST INDICATES. DISTURBANCES CONTINUE THROUGH FLOW THIS EVENING
WITH ONE MOVING THROUGH THE CWA NOW. AS IT MOVES THROUGH...EXPECT
CONTINUED CHANCE OF ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS. TEMPS ALSO LOOK
ON TARGET...SO WILL LEAVE CURRENT FORECAST GO.

WEDNESDAY...STRONG RIDGE OVER 4 CORNERS REGION WITH AXIS NORTHWARD
ACROSS ERN MONTANA AND TROUGH OVER W COAST WILL BRING A MOIST AND
UNSTABLE SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS WILL ENHANCE
POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY...PRIMARILY ACROSS SW MONTANA.
SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...ESPECIALLY AFTERNOON
ACROSS THE SW AND WEDNESDAY EVENING OVER NORTH CENTRAL MT.
TEMPERATURES WILL WARM INTO THE 90S ON WEDNESDAY...WITH THE AIRMASS
BECOMING QUITE UNSTABLE.

THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES.
AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONVECTION A POSSIBILITY EACH DAY WITH NO
ORGANIZED STORMS ANTICIPATED. TEMPS WILL REMAIN ABOVE SEASONAL
AVERAGES, BUT NOT TOO HOT FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR.

SUNDAY AND MONDAY...SUNDAY REMAINS WARM WITH ONLY ISOLATED POPS
BUT A SURFACE LOW DEVELOPS OVER ERN MONTANA AND SRN SASKATCHEWAN
SUNDAY NIGHT CAUSING SOME GUSTY WEST WINDS. THIS DOES BEAR WATCHING
FOR FIRE WEATHER ISSUES. MONDAY LOOKS DRY AND CONTINUED WARMER THAN
AVERAGE.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 059/094 057/092 056 05223
    BBUUU 088/055 087/057 088/055 088/060 088 22222110000
CTB BB 055/089 053/090 054 05323
    BBUBU 082/053 084/053 083/052 086/055 084 11222--0000
HLN BB 061/092 058/093 059 05332
    BBUUU 090/055 090/056 090/055 087/058 086 22222--0000
BZN BB 055/093 051/092 053 05332
    BBUUU 089/052 089/054 088/055 090/058 086 22222110000
WEY BB 050/083 047/079 047 05222
    BBBBU 081/047 082/051 082/050 082/051 076 22222220000
DLN BB 052/087 052/088 054 05332
    BBBUU 088/052 087/054 086/053 085/054 083 22222110000
HVR BB 061/095 063/095 060 05324
    BBUBU 091/059 092/060 091/056 089/063 091 01222110000
LWT BB 058/091 060/093 058 05223
    BBUUU 086/056 086/058 084/057 091/061 087 11222220000

.TFX...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 5, 5:30 AM MST, 14 hours 14 minutes before
MTZ008>015-044>055-060010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
630 AM MDT TUE AUG 5 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL
AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA TODAY AND TONIGHT. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD
BECOME SEVERE WITH HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER
THREAT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT WESTERN PARTS OF THE
AREA TODAY WITH EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE REGION EXPECTED TO SEE
THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

NO WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES ARE CURRENTLY IN EFFECT BUT
YOU SHOULD REMAIN COGNIZANT OF WEATHER UPDATES THROUGH WWW.WEATHER.GOV
...NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET TODAY AND TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY ACROSS
NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD
BECOME SEVERE.

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 5, 6:37 PM MST, 1 hour 7 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
737 PM MDT TUE AUG 5 2003

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0519 PM    5 NE DILLON               MT   43 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   BEAVERHEAD                     RECORDED BY DILLON AIRPORT
                                          ASOS

0636 PM    2 E HELENA                MT   45 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   LEWIS  AND  CLARK              RECORDED BY HELENA AIRPORT
                                          ASOS

0716 PM    1 E BELGRADE              MT   45 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   GALLATIN                       RECORDED BY BOZEMAN AIRPORT
                                          ASOS

0725 PM    3 SW GREAT FALLS          MT   44 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   CASCADE                        NWS OFFICE

NNNN
Local storm report, Aug 5, 7:34 PM MST, 10 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
834 PM MDT TUE AUG 5 2003

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0519 PM    5 NE DILLON               MT   43 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   BEAVERHEAD                     RECORDED BY DILLON AIRPORT
                                          ASOS

0636 PM    2 E HELENA                MT   45 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   LEWIS  AND  CLARK              RECORDED BY HELENA AIRPORT
                                          ASOS

0716 PM    1 E BELGRADE              MT   45 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   GALLATIN                       RECORDED BY BOZEMAN AIRPORT
                                          ASOS

0725 PM    3 SW GREAT FALLS          MT   44 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   CASCADE                        NWS OFFICE

0745 PM    7 SW FAIRFIELD            MT   35 MPH TSTM GUST
08/05/03   TETON                          LIGHTNING STRUCK A
                                          COTTONWOOD TREE AND PEELED
                                          A 3-4 INCH WIDE STRIP OF
                                          BARK OFF THE TREE FROM 3/4
                                          OF THE WAY UP THE TREE TO
                                          THE GROUND. THE BARK STRIP
                                          WAS 40-50 FEET LONG.

NNNN

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 187 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Gallatin

When
August 5, 7:44 PM MST
Where
Gallatin County, Belgrade
Measured
54 kt (62 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
45.783, -111.183

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5377575.