Damaging Wind in Montana, July 16, 2003

Name: Damaging Wind in Montana, July 16, 2003
Start: 2003-07-16T17:37
End: 2003-07-16T17:37
Location: Montana

July 16, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm over central Lewis and Clark County produced an outflow boundary that moved northeast through Cascade County. A 63 mph wind gust was recorded at Great Falls 3E.

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 over central Lewis and Clark County produced an outflow boundary that moved northeast through Cascade County. A 63 mph wind gust was recorded at Great Falls 3E.

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 16, 1:15 PM MST, 4 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 1:15 PM MST, 4 hours 22 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
215 PM MDT WED JUL 16 2003

.SHORT TERM...GENERAL PATTERN CONTINUES. UPPER RIDGE AXIS HAS
SHIFTED TO EASTERN MONTANA ALLOWING FOR BACKING FLOW ALOFT OVER THE
CWA. NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF DYNAMICS ALOFT BUT A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS ARE TRYING TO DEVELOP OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA. AIRMASS
IS EXTREMELY DRY IN THE LOWER LEVELS WITH GUSTY WINDS BEING THE
PRIMARY CONCERN FOR ANY CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. RAINFALL WILL BE
VERY LIGHT. HARD TO PINPOINT WHERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL EVENTUALLY ROAM
SO WILL GO WITH A BLANKET ISOLATED POP ACROSS THE CWA TONIGHT.
EXTREMELY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES COMBINED WITH GUSTY THUNDERSTORM
WINDS HAVE PROMPTED A RED FLAG WARNING TO BE ISSUED THROUGH THIS
EVENING. FLOW ALOFT BECOMES A BIT MORE ZONAL THURSDAY ALLOWING
FOR GENERALLY DRY CONDITIONS EXCEPT FOR SOUTHWEST MONTANA. THIS
PATTERN SHOULD PERSIST THROUGH SATURDAY. TEMPERATURES REMAIN FAIRLY
STATIC DURING THE PERIOD WITH READINGS ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES.
EMANUEL

.EXTENDED...SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE GETS
KNOCKED DOWN A LITTLE BY A WEAK DISTURBANCE ON SUNDAY. THIS WILL
RESULT IN SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES (STILL ABOVE NORMAL THOUGH)
AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF STORMS OVER THE SOUTHWEST. THE RIDGE
STRENGTHENS AGAIN MONDAY AND REMAINS OVER THE REGION THROUGH
WEDNESDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL WARM BACK INTO THE 90S BY TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY WITH DRY CONDITIONS PREVAILING. MEIER

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BU 058/091 056/090 055 08200
    UUUUB 089/054 086/052 089/057 094/058 093 00000000000
CTB UU 057/087 052/087 053 08200
    UUUUB 086/053 081/051 088/055 089/054 088 00000000000
HLN UU 059/092 057/091 056 08211
    UUUUB 089/055 090/053 091/059 094/060 093 10000000000
BZN BU 054/092 052/090 052 08222
    UUUUU 089/051 088/052 090/053 092/052 091 2211--00000
WEY BU 042/087 044/084 045 082-2
    UUUUU 084/052 084/045 082/045 090/040 089 22111100000
DLN BU 055/092 053/090 052 08222
    UUUUU 088/051 088/052 089/053 091/053 090 22111100000
HVR BU 062/095 058/093 056 08210
    UUUUB 090/056 087/054 087/058 096/059 095 00000000000
LWT BU 058/091 055/088 054 08222
    UUUUB 087/053 081/052 085/054 088/056 087 20000000000

.TFX...RED FLAG WARNING THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR FIRE WEATHER
       ZONES 112 THROUGH 118 FOR DRY THUNDERSTORMS AND LOW
       RELATIVE HUMIDITIES.

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 16, 5:10 AM MST, 12 hours 27 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-170010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
610 AM MDT WED JUL 16 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

DRY THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON WITH
POTENTIALLY STRONG GUSTY WINDS. A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED
FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING. PLEASE REFER TO
GTFRFWTFX FOR MORE INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

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 16, 4:42 PM MST, 55 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
542 PM MDT WED JUL 16 2003

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

0455 PM    7 NE STANFORD             MT   50 MPH TSTM GUST
07/16/03   JUDITH  BASIN                  EST 50 MPH...BLEW LAWN
                                          FURNITURE AROUND

0515 PM    4 N DENTON                MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
07/16/03   FERGUS

NNNN

Local storm report, Jul 16, 5:29 PM MST, 8 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
629 PM MDT WED JUL 16 2003

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

0455 PM    7 NE STANFORD             MT   50 MPH TSTM GUST
07/16/03   JUDITH  BASIN                  EST 50 MPH...BLEW LAWN
                                          FURNITURE AROUND

0515 PM    4 N DENTON                MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
07/16/03   FERGUS

0615 PM    13 E GERALDINE            MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
07/17/03   CHOUTEAU

0620 PM    1 W SQUARE BUTTE          MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
07/17/03   CHOUTEAU

NNNN

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 13 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cascade

When: July 16, 5:37 PM MST
Where: Cascade County, 3 mi E of Great Falls
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph) measured gust
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 47.517, -111.233

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

Every storm in Montana in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5373579.