Hail in Montana, August 8, 2003

Name: Hail in Montana, August 8, 2003
Start: 2003-08-08T22:50
End: 2003-08-08T23:10
Location: Montana

August 8, 2003 · NWS MSO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

75 inch diameter hail. Hail accumulated up to one foot deep near the town of Florence.

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: 2

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.

A severe thunderstorm moved up the northern Bitterroot Valley during the late evening hours, producing 1.25 to 1.75 inch diameter hail. Hail accumulated up to one foot deep near the town of Florence.

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 Aug 8, 8:15 PM MST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 8:15 PM MST, 2 hours 35 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
915 PM MDT FRI AUG 8 2003

.SHORT TERM...WILL UPDATE ZONES...HAVE ALREADY UPDATED STATE.

MAIN UPDATE WILL TO DEPICT LINGERING THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING.
STRONGEST CELLS CONTINUE ARE MOVING FROM SEELEY LAKE AREA INTO THE
BOB MARSHALL...BUT WEAKER CELLS CONTINUE NEAR FLATHEAD LAKE AND
OVER THE SOUTHERN BITTERROOT.  SO WILL WORD FORECAST FOR THIS
ACTIVITY THROUGH MIDNIGHT IN THESE AREAS.  THE REMAINDER OF THE
ZONES SHOULD SEE CLEARING.  HAVE ALLOWED FIRE WEATHER WATCH TO
EXPIRE.  EVEN WITH RAIN IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS...DO NOT SEE LARGE
ENOUGH CHANGES TO DEW POINTS TO WARRANT ADJUSTING MIN TEMPERATURE
FORECAST FOR TONIGHT. WHITMORE

.LONG TERM...LONG RANGE MODELS CONSISTENT KEEPING THE OFFSHORE CUTOFF
LOW ALONG THE COASTLINE ON TUESDAY. SOUTHWEST JET STREAM WILL
CUT ACROSS NORTHWEST MT FOR LOCALLY BREEZY CONDITIONS...OTHERWISE
SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE FOCUS OVER SOUTHWEST MT AND
LEMHI COUNTY WHERE SURFACE THERMAL TROUGH LIES. ON WEDNESDAY...THE
LOW DIGS TO THE SOUTH AND BEGINS TO MOVE INLAND. WEDNESDAY LOOKS TO
BE A GOOD POTENTIALLY STRONG THUNDERSTORM DAY...AS THE CUTOFF LOW
OPENS AND SWINGS OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. AS THIS SYSTEM MOVES
THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY THURSDAY...THUNDERSTORMS WILL
TRANSITION TO JUST RAIN SHOWERS AND THEN A COOLER...BREEZY DAY ON
THURSDAY. BY FRIDAY...THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES WESTERLY AND DRIER WITH
RIDING OCCURRING TO THE WEST. HENCE...A DRY AND MOSTLY CLEAR DAY.
FELSCH

.MSO...NONE.

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB BBB 054/095 056/098 058/091 39011222
     BEEU 053/084 053/083 051/081 049/081 3022233331
FCA UBB 052/090 053/093 055/089 39111222
     BEBU 050/082 050/081 048/078 044/079 3022233331
POL UBB 061/089 064/094 058/090 39111222
     BEBU 053/083 053/082 051/080 047/081 3022223321
MSO UBB 054/093 056/095 057/091 39111212
     BBBU 052/084 052/083 050/082 047/083 3022223321
HMM UBB 055/094 057/096 058/095 39211112
     BBBU 053/085 053/084 051/081 047/082 3022233321
BTM UBB 049/089 052/093 052/094 39122112
     BBBU 047/083 047/085 045/078 042/078 3022233221
ORO BBB 063/095 064/096 059/093 39022111
     BEBU 058/090 058/089 056/084 054/087 3012233220
GRV UBB 055/092 055/093 057/088 39022221
     BBBU 052/085 052/084 050/078 047/083 3022233220
SMN UBB 052/092 053/093 057/093 39011112
     BBBU 052/085 052/087 050/082 046/081 3022233321

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 8, 9:08 PM MST, 1 hour 42 minutes before

MTZ001>007-043-IDZ005>010-091200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
1008 PM MDT FRI AUG 8 2003

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

.DAY ONE... TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Ravalli

When: August 8, 10:50 PM MST to 10:55 PM MST
Where: Ravalli County, 1 mi S of Florence
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.617, -114.083

Hail, Missoula

When: August 8, 11:10 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, 12 mi S of (Mso)missoula Intl A
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.750, -114.083

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

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: 5332924, 5332923.