Montana, 2003

Damaging Wind in Montana, July 1, 2003

July 1, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm produced a 75 mph wind gust at Chinook 11S.

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 75 mph wind gust at Chinook 11S.

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 Jul 1, 1:25 PM MST, 5 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 1:25 PM MST, 5 hours 28 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
225 PM MDT TUE JUL 1 2003

.TONIGHT...CWA IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AS UPPER RIDGE SHIFTS EAST
AND UPPER TROF DIGS ALONG PACIFIC COAST. LIMITED MOISTURE WITH A
SHORT WAVE TO MOVE UP OVER THE SOUTHWEST ZONES LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND OVER CENTRAL ZONES TONIGHT. CONTINUED ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH
SOME STRONG GUSTY WINDS. LOW TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE CLOSE TO LAST
NIGHTS AS COOLER AIR FINALLY STARTS SPILLING INTO CWA.

WEDNESDAY...UPPER TROF TO MOVE ALONG CANADIAN BORDER FINALLY BRINGING
IN SOME COOLER AIR. A FEW WEAK DISTURBANCES TO MOVE THROUGH FLOW AS
IT BECOMES WESTERLY FOR SHOWERS IN THE MORNING AND SOME
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. CLEARING WEDNESDAY NIGHT FOR LOW
TEMPERATURES TO BE NEAR NORMAL.
THURSDAY...NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES WITH DIFLUENT
FLOW OVER THE SOUTHWEST. WEAK DISTURBANCES CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH
THE NORTHERN PORTION OF CWA. MAINLY DRY WITH NEAR NORMAL
TEMPERATURES.

.LONG TERM...FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. A WEAK UPPER LEVEL
RIDGE EMBEDDED IN THE WESTERLY FLOW WILL BRING DRY CONDITIONS AND
SEASONAL TEMPERATURES. THEN ON SATURDAY AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES
ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA AND FLATTENS THE RIDGE. NOT A WHOLE LOT OF
COOL AIR BEHIND THE SURFACE COLD FRONT AGAIN SO TEMPERATURES WILL
REMAIN NEAR NORMAL. IT ALSO LOOKS DRY WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS ALONG THE HIGH-LINE. MEIER

.SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...UPPER TROF MOVES ACROSS SOUTHERN CANADA
SUNDAY ALLOWING FLOW ALOFT TO BEGIN TO BACK. WEAK RIDGING TAKES
PLACE MONDAY BEFORE AN UPPER TROF DIGS ALONG THE WEST COAST TUESDAY
ALLOWING SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT TO RETURN ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN NEAR SEASONAL AVERAGES.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 053/081 049/079 049 07222
    BBBBB 081/051 082/050 077/053 082/052 084 00000000003
CTB BB 051/076 048/074 048 07122
    BBBBB 077/050 075/048 073/051 077/050 079 00001100003
HLN BB 056/084 051/082 051 07222
    UBBBB 082/053 081/046 078/053 085/052 082 00000000003
BZN BB 050/082 047/079 047 07222
    UBBBB 083/049 084/048 080/049 083/048 083 00000000002
WEY UB 039/080 037/072 043 070-2
    UBBBB 072/045 077/049 077/046 078/048 074 00000000002
DLN UB 050/084 046/081 046 07212
    UBBBB 080/048 081/047 081/046 083/048 081 00000000--2
HVR BB 056/083 052/081 052 07322
    BBBBB 081/053 081/055 078/053 084/052 085 00001100003
LWT BB 053/078 049/076 049 07222
    BBBBB 077/051 081/051 074/050 077/049 083 00000000002

.TFX...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 1, 10:00 AM MST, 8 hours 53 minutes before
MTZ008>015-044>055-020100-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1100 AM MDT TUE JUL 01 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

AN UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE THROUGH SOUTHWEST MONTANA THIS
AFTERNOON AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA TONIGHT. THERE IS A POTENTIAL
FOR THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY...

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, Jul 1, 5:38 PM MST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
638 PM MDT TUE JUL 1 2003

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

0635 PM    3 NW GERALDINE            MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
07/02/03   CHOUTEAU
Local storm report, Jul 1, 5:38 PM MST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
638 PM MDT TUE JUL 1 2003

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

0635 PM    3 NW GERALDINE            MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
07/01/03   CHOUTEAU
Local storm report, Jul 1, 6:19 PM MST, 34 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
719 PM MDT TUE JUL 1 2003

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

0510 PM    CUT BANK                  MT   0.25 INCH HAIL
07/01/03   GLACIER

0632 PM    2 N GERALDINE             MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/01/03   CHOUTEAU                       HAIL LASTED TEN MINUTES

0635 PM    3 NW GERALDINE            MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
07/01/03   CHOUTEAU

NNNN

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 192 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:53 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Blaine

When
July 1, 6:53 PM MST
Where
Blaine County, 11 mi S of Chinook
Measured
68 kt (78 mph) measured gust
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
48.417, -109.233

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, July 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: 5373575.