Damaging Wind in Montana, August 8, 2003

Name: Damaging Wind in Montana, August 8, 2003
Start: 2003-08-08T19:27
End: 2003-08-08T19:27
Location: Montana

August 8, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm produced an 83 mph wind gust at Great Falls 3SW.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

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Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
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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 an 83 mph wind gust at Great Falls 3SW.

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 8, 1:30 PM MST, 5 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 1:30 PM MST, 5 hours 57 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
230 PM MDT FRI AUG 8 2003

.DISCUSSION...

PATTERN REMAINS ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGED WITH A DEEP UPPER LEVEL LOW OFF
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST AND RIDGING OVER THE ROCKIES. SOUTHWEST
FLOW CONTINUES OVER MY CWA...WITH OCCASIONAL DISTURBANCES MOVING OVER
AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONVECTION.

TONIGHT...MODELS HAVE COME INTO AGREEMENT THIS AFTERNOON...AND BRING
UPPER LEVEL ENERGY FROM SOUTHWEST MONTANA NORTHEAST OVERNIGHT.
MODELS ALSO HINT AT THE POSSIBILITY OF A MESO-SCALE COMPEX FORMING
IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN MONTANA. HAVE INCREASED POPS IN MANY LOCATIONS
TO SCATTERED FOR TONIGHT...AND WILL CONTINUE A MENTION OF POSSIBLE
SEVERE STORMS. HAVE ALSO ISSUED A FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR FW ZONE
118...DUE TO LOW RH VALUES AND ISOLATED DRY THUNDERSTORMS.

FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...DIURNAL CONVECTION DEVELOPS DURING THE
AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS EACH DAY. TEMPERATURES REMAIN WARM AND
WINDS LIGHT. MPJ

MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...UPPER RIDGE REMAINS IN PLACE OVER
CENTRAL ROCKIES THROUGH EXTENDED PERIOD. UPPER TROUGH OVER PACIFIC
NORTHWEST SENDS SEVERAL IMPULSES INTO RIDGE...FLATTENING RIDGE
SOMEWHAT AND LEAVING AREA UNDER SW FLOW ALOFT THROUGH FRIDAY. WEAK
DISTURBANCES MOVING THRU SW FLOW ALOFT WILL HELP KICK OFF AFTERNOON
AND EVENING CONVECTION...MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF SW MT. IF
PACIFIC TROUGH INCHES EASTWARD...THERE WILL BE A BETTER CHANCE FOR
ORGANIZED CONVECTION. BUT NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE OF THAT TO MAKE ANY
CHANGES TO THE FORECAST NOW. TEMPERATURES REMAIN AT OR ABOVE NORMAL
THROUGH THE PERIOD...WITH COOLER TEMPS TOWARDS THE NORTHWEST.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BU 057/090 062/093 056 14322
    UUUBU 092/060 088/058 088/054 078/055 085 1000000--00
CTB BU 053/086 054/089 052 14222
    BUBBU 085/055 084/054 084/050 077/052 080 1000000--00
HLN UU 058/091 062/093 055 14322
    UBUBB 092/058 086/056 086/051 078/053 086 2-----022--
BZN UU 050/089 053/090 056 14322
    UBBBU 092/054 086/057 086/053 080/055 089 1-0-00022--
WEY UU 040/082 047/083 050 14222
    BBBBU 083/051 076/051 076/049 077/052 083 22121111111
DLN UU 051/088 052/091 054 14211
    BBBBB 089/053 083/052 083/047 088/053 087 111122122--
HVR BU 060/093 064/093 056 14322
    BUUBU 094/063 091/062 091/059 082/057 084 00000000000
LWT BU 059/087 059/090 058 14322
    UUUUU 091/061 087/060 087/057 082/054 084 00000001100

.TFX...FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR ISOLATED DRY LIGHTNING THIS AFTERNOON
       THROUGH THIS EVENING ZONE 118.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 8, 12:15 PM MST, 7 hours 12 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-090600-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
115 PM MDT FRI AUG 8 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME
OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE...WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. STORMS
SHOULD DEVELOP OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST MONTANA BETWEEN 2 AND 4 PM AND
SPREAD NORTHWARD THROUGH THE AREA...REACHING HILL AND BLAINE
COUNTIES BETWEEN 8 PM AND MIDNIGHT.

FREQUENT LIGHTNING IS EXPECTED WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS. THEREFORE A
FIRE WEATHER WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MOST OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA FOR
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. REFER TO GTFRFWTFX...GTFRFWBYZ AND
GTFRFWMSO FOR MORE INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 8, 4:24 PM MST, 3 hours 3 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
524 PM MDT FRI AUG 8 2003

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

0510 PM    2 W MOORE                 MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/08/03   FERGUS

0515 PM    MOORE                     MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/08/03   FERGUS

NNNN

Local storm report, Aug 8, 4:46 PM MST, 2 hours 41 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
546 PM MDT FRI AUG 8 2003

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

0510 PM    2 W MOORE                 MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/08/03   FERGUS

0515 PM    MOORE                     MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/08/03   FERGUS

0537 PM    3 SE DANVERS              MT   0.88 INCH HAIL
08/08/03   FERGUS

NNNN

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cascade

When: August 8, 7:27 PM MST
Where: Cascade County, 3 mi SW of Great Falls
Measured: 72 kt (83 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.483, -111.350

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

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: 5377582.