Flood in Montana, June 1 to 5, 2003

Name: Flood in Montana, June 1 to 5, 2003
Start: 2003-06-01T00:00
End: 2003-06-05T18:00
Location: Montana

June 1 to 5, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Flooding continued through the first week of June for locations near the Jefferson River. Flooding did occur in rural farmland areas.

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.

Flooding continued through the first week of June for locations near the Jefferson River. Flooding did occur in rural farmland areas. The river crested near 10 feet on the 5th.

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 May 31, 7:30 PM MST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 7:30 PM MST, 4 hours 30 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
830 PM MDT SAT MAY 31 2003

UPDATES TO ZONE BY 900 PM
UPDATES TO STATE BY 1000 PM
UPDATED CCF NUMBERS BELOW

.DISCUSSION...

.TONIGHT...I WILL UP POPS FOR TONIGHT OVER THE NORTHEAST...THE
SOUTHWEST...AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT...PER RADAR OBSERVATIONS.
PRECIPITATION DEVELOPING NICELY AHEAD OF AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE
MOVING THROUGH. THE PRECIPITATION CHANCES WILL INCREASE A BIT IN THE
HELENA...GREAT FALLS...CUT BANK AND LEWISTOWN AREAS LATER THIS
EVENING...AS THE MAIN UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER NORTHERN IDAHO MOVES EAST
TOWARDS CENTRAL MONTANA. ADDITIONALLY...TWO AREAS OF
PRECIPITATION...ONE SOUTH OF MISSOULA...AND THE OTHER OVER FAR
NORTHERN IDAHO...ARE HOLDING TOGETHER PRETTY GOOD. THIS
PRECIPITATION WILL EXIT THE REGION EARLY ON SUNDAY MORNING...AS A
LEE SIDE SURFACE TROF DEVELOPS IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA. THIS WILL ALLOW
FOR WINDY DAY OVER NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA ON SUNDAY...ALONG WITH
DRYING THINGS OUT. THE SOUTHWEST SHOULD BE MOSTLY DRY FOR SUNDAY
AFTERNOON AS WELL.

I RAISED TEMPERATURES 2 DEGREES MOST AREAS...DUE TO CLOUD COVER AND
MILD DEW POINT TEMPERATURES.

FLOOD WARNINGS AND ADVISORY FOR SMALL CREEKS IN THE SOUTHWEST REMAIN
IN EFFECT TONIGHT. EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW IS IN CHECK. THE 3 RIVERS
THAT HAVE A FLOOD WARNING ARE BETWEEN ONE HALF A FOOT...AND A FOOT
ABOVE FLOOD STAGE...WITH NO SIGNIFICANT FLOODING BEING REPORTED.

BRUSDA

...REST OF DISCUSSION REMAINS THE SAME...

MONDAY AND TUESDAY...A SHORTWAVE TROUGH EMBEDDED IN THE MOIST
NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWEST MONTANA ON MONDAY AND
EXIT TO THE SOUTHEAST ON TUESDAY. THIS BRING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TO THE TFX CWA. COOLER SURFACE
HIGH PRESSURE WILL ALSO BUILD IN DURING THIS PERIOD...FOR A SLIGHTLY
HIGHER CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ALONG NORTH AND EAST FACING SLOPES
DUE TO UPSLOPE...AS WELL AS COOLING TEMPERATURES GRADUALLY TO NEAR
SEASONAL AVERAGES. COULSTON

WEDNESDAY...THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES MORE NORTHERLY ON WEDNESDAY AS AN
UPPER RIDGE BUILDS ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST. THIS FLOW WILL BRING A
STRONG DISTURBANCE SOUTH OUT OF CANADA...AS WELL AS FURTHER COOLING
THE AIRMASS TO SLIGHTLY BELOW SEASONAL AVERAGES. ANOTHER AREA OF
SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE MOVES SOUTH OUT OF CANADA AS
WELL...REINFORCING THE UPSLOPE CONDITIONS WITH STRONGER NORTHERLY
WINDS. ALL OF THESE CONDITIONS WILL COMBINE TO BRING AN INCREASING
CHANCE OF MORE STRATIFORM RAIN TO THE CWA. COULSTON

THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...ENORMOUS RIDGE ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST
THURSDAY. DUE TO ITS LOCATION WEST OF CWA IT FORCES A NORTHERLY FLOW
OVER CENTRAL MONTANA WITH ORIGINS NEAR THE ARCTIC CIRCLE. THIS WILL
MAKE THURSDAY RELATIVELY COOL WITH A CHANCE OF UPSLOPE-AIDED
SHOWERS. RIDGE IS ONLY A SHELL OF ITS FORMER SELF AS IT MOVES ACROSS
THE AREA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. POMEROY

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 050/074 044/068 038 14301
    BBEBB 068/041 065/043 067/042 074/049 073 22223130002
CTB BB 049/071 043/065 037 14301
    BBEBB 065/039 065/042 065/041 072/047 069 22223130002
HLN BB 050/075 047/070 039 14301
    BBEBB 070/043 070/045 069/045 077/047 076 22221-20002
BZN BB 049/073 040/071 038 14600
    BBBBB 071/038 068/041 064/039 073/046 072 22223210002
WEY BB 041/068 035/063 033 14600
    BBBBB 063/034 060/035 060/031 061/041 066 22110000003
DLN BB 048/075 042/070 038 14500
    BBBBB 070/040 067/042 067/038 071/045 071 11000000002
HVR BB 052/075 045/073 040 14601
    BBEBB 073/042 067/045 069/045 077/053 076 22223230002
LWT BB 048/070 041/064 037 14300
    BBEBB 064/040 059/042 061/040 070/047 068 22224330002

.TFX...FLOOD WARNINGS FOR THE GALLATIN RIVER NEAR LOGAN...THE
       JEFFERSON RIVER AT TWIN BRIDGES...AND THE BIG HOLE RIVER AT
       MELROSE ARE IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY.
    ...SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY FOR SOUTHWEST MONTANA IN EFFECT
       THROUGH SUNDAY.

Hazardous weather outlook, May 31, 4:30 AM MST, 19 hours 30 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-300010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
530 AM MDT SAT MAY 31 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

FLOOD WARNINGS AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORIES CONTINUE FOR MOST
OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD
STATEMENT...GTFFLSTFX...FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

A FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA. REFER TO
GTFFLSTFX FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Madison

When: June 1, 12:00 AM MST to June 5, 6:00 PM MST
Where: Madison forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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, June 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: 5364308.