Hail in Montana, August 8, 2003

Name: Hail in Montana, August 8, 2003
Start: 2003-08-08T15:50
End: 2003-08-08T18:20
Location: Montana

August 8, 2003 · NWS BYZ · 6 events in 2 counties and zones

6 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: 6

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 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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 8, 1:50 PM MST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 1:50 PM MST, 2 hours before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
250 PM MDT FRI AUG 8 2003

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SAT AND SUN...
SOUTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES OVER THE AREA. CONVECTION HAS ALREADY FIRED
OVER THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS. WILL UP POPS TO SCATTERED. THE ATMOSPHERE
HAS DRIED OUT SOME TODAY AS DEWPOINTS HAVE FALLEN ABOUT 10 DEGREES.
WOULD EXPECT A MIX OF WET AND DRY THUNDERSTORMS. POTENTIAL STILL THERE
FOR GUSTY WINDS WITH STORMS AS SOUNDINGS INVERTED V. WILL KEEP THE
MENTION GUSTY WINDS IN THE ZONES. UPPER RIDGE BUILDS SATURDAY AND THIS
WILL KEEP THE TEMPERATURES HOT. ANOTHER WAVE TO MOVE THROUGH SATURDAY
FOR ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. UPPER RIDGE BUILDS EVEN MORE SUNDAY AND THIS
SHOULD PUSH MOST ACTIVITY NORTH. A WEAK WAVE ALONG WITH SOME MID LEVEL
MOISTURE SLIDES INTO THE WEST. WILL PUT IN SOME ISOLATED MOUNTAIN
THUNDERSTORMS. SHOULD BE A LITTLE WARMER AS THE RIDGE AMPLIFIES.
HUMPHREY

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
LARGE DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE FOUR CORNERS AREA EARLY
NEXT WEEK. AT THE SAME TIME...A STRONG TROUGH WILL BE OFF THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST COAST. THESE TWO SYSTEMS WILL COMBINE TO BRING A SOUTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. A FEW DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE
THROUGH THIS FLOW MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY...BUT MAINLY OVER SOUTHEAST
MONTANA. WILL ADD A CHANCE FOR A THUNDERSTORM TO THAT AREA MONDAY NIGHT
AND TUESDAY. BY MID WEEK...THE TROUGH OFF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL
MAKE ITS WAY INLAND AND BEGIN TO PUSH THE RIDGE AXIS SLIGHTLY EAST.
SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL BECOME MORE AMPLIFIED WITH THE MAIN ENERGY STAYING
TO OUR NORTHWEST. 850MB TEMPERATURES APPROACH 31C BY THE MIDDLE OF THE
WEEK AND WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE READINGS AROUND 100 DEGREES
AGAIN. HOWEVER...CURRENT FORECAST OF TEMPERATURES IN THE MIDDLE 90S LOOK
GOOD. NO MAJOR CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED PACKAGE AND WILL KEEP CONDIDITONS
MAINLY DRY AND HOT.  HOOLEY

    SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 065/097 064/097 066/098 066/094 065/093 064/088 062/088
    32/T    20/G    00/G    00/G    00/G    00/B    00/B
LVM 050/093 050/093 055/094 058/090 059/089 060/084 058/084
    32/T    20/G    00/G    00/G    00/U    00/U    00/U
HDN 065/097 064/099 064/099 064/095 064/094 062/089 060/089
    32/T    20/G    00/G    00/G    00/G    00/B    00/B
MLS 067/099 066/099 065/099 065/095 064/094 062/089 060/089
    32/T    20/G    00/G    00/G    00/G    00/B    00/B
4BQ 065/096 064/099 064/099 064/095 063/094 061/089 059/089
    32/T    20/G    03/T    30/G    00/G    00/B    00/B
BHK 066/094 065/097 062/097 062/092 062/091 060/086 058/086
    32/T    20/G    00/G    00/G    00/G    00/B    00/B
SHR 062/097 061/098 063/098 063/094 062/093 060/088 058/088
    32/T    20/G    03/T    30/G    00/G    00/B    00/B

.BYZ...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 8, 3:32 PM MST, 18 minutes before

MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-091100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
432 PM MDT FRI AUG 8 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHEAST
MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WHEATLAND...GOLDEN
VALLEY...MUSSELSHELL...ROSEBUD...CUSTER AND FALLON COUNTIES UNTIL
1000 PM MDT. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH ANY
THUNDERSTORMS THAT FORM IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.

A FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR ISOLATED DRY THUNDERSTORMS HAS BEEN ISSUED
FOR PARTS OF SOUTHERN MONTANA AND NORTHERN WYOMING FOR THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. PLEASE REFER TO GTFRFWBYZ FOR DETAILS.

ALSO...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR OTHER PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND
SOUTHEAST MONTANA. STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND LARGE HAIL MAY BE POSSIBLE
WITH ANY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP.

.DAY TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE
AREA SATURDAY AND SATURDAY EVENING.

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

SPRINGER

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Golden Valley

When: August 8, 3:50 PM MST
Where: Golden Valley County, 18 mi NNW of Ryegate
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.533, -109.400

Hail, Golden Valley

When: August 8, 4:32 PM MST
Where: Golden Valley County, 20 mi N of Lavina
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.567, -108.933

Hail, Fallon

When: August 8, 5:25 PM MST
Where: Fallon County, Baker
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.367, -104.283

Hail, Fallon

When: August 8, 5:40 PM MST
Where: Fallon County, Baker
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.367, -104.283

Hail, Fallon

When: August 8, 5:57 PM MST
Where: Fallon County, Baker
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.367, -104.283

Hail covered ground.

Hail, Fallon

When: August 8, 6:20 PM MST
Where: Fallon County, 10 mi E of Baker
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.367, -104.067

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: 5374641, 5374639, 5374638, 5374637, 5374636, 5374640.