Hail in Montana, June 20, 2003

Name: Hail in Montana, June 20, 2003
Start: 2003-06-20T14:13
End: 2003-06-20T18:35
Location: Montana

June 20, 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 Jun 20, 1:06 PM MST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 20, 1:06 PM MST, 1 hour 7 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
206 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 2003

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR SAT AND SUN...
CONVECTION HAS ALREADY STARTED IN EARNEST TO THE WEST AND SOUTH OF CWA
AND SHOULD BE PROGRESSING INTO FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. SEVERE POTENTIAL REMAINS ACROSS ENTIRE FORECAST AREA WITH GOOD
SURFACE MOISTURE IN PLACE AND TRIGGERING MECHANISMS APPROACHING FROM
WEST AND SOUTH. 700MB CAP ACROSS EAST MAY KEEP STORMS FROM BECOMING
SURFACE BASED DURING LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING...BUT INCREASING
MOISTURE FROM SOUTH AND APPROACHING TROUGH SHOULD WORK TO ERODE CAP BY
EARLY EVENING. WILL KEEP MENTION OF SEVERE STORMS IN THROUGH MIDNIGHT
ACROSS ENTIRE AREA. LIKELY POPS THROUGH MIDNIGHT FOR ENTIRE FORECAST
AREA LOOK ON TRACK...AND WILL EXPAND LIKELY POPS THROUGH 12Z IN THE FAR
EAST AS THEY WILL REMAIN AHEAD OF FRONT FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD. WILL
ALSO TWEAK LOWS TONIGHT AS EAST SHOULD REMAIN WARM AHEAD OF FRONT.

THROUGH THE REST OF THE PERIOD A COOLING TREND BEGINS AS SURFACE
BOUNDARY PUSHES EAST ON SATURDAY. WILL NOT DRY OUT DEW POINTS AS MUCH
AS ETA SUGGESTS AS IT HAS BEEN MUCH TOO DRY OVER PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS.
DESPITE DOWNSLOPE WINDS SATURDAY GENERAL TROUGHINESS AND WAVE ENERGY
PUSHING ACROSS NORTHERN ROCKIES SHOULD KEEP THINGS UNSETTLED AND POPS
ACROSS ENTIRE CWA LOOK ON TRACK. GFS SHOWING AREA OF STRONG
CONVERGENCE ACROSS SOUTHEAST AND THIS WILL HAVE TO BE MONITORED FOR
POSSIBLE INCREASE IN POPS. WILL KEEP POPS IN THROUGH SUNDAY WITH
CONTINUED TROUGH AND WAVES MOVING THROUGH FLOW. WILL KEEP MENTION OF
THUNDER IN THROUGH ALL PERIODS GIVEN TIME OF YEAR AND DECENT LAPSE
RATES ABOVE 700MB. JZ

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
ONE TROUGH WILL REPLACE ANOTHER DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD KEEPING
CYCLONIC FLOW OVER THE AREA WHICH WILL FAVOR SHOWER ACTIVITY DURING
THIS TIME OF YEAR. UPPER LOW OVER NORTHERN SASK ON MONDAY WILL MOVE
EASTWARD WHILE ANOTHER WEAKENING SYSTEM MOVES INTO NORTHERN WASHINGTON
AND THE IDAHO PANHANDLE. MONDAY AND TUESDAY LOOK TO BE FAIRLY COOL
DAYS WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES STRUGGLING TO PASS 70 DEGREES. TROUGH AXIS
COMBINED WITH THE WESTERN FEATURE CROSS THE AREA ON TUESDAY FOR MORE
SHOWER ACTIVITY AND LEAVING NORTHWEST FLOW IN ITS WAKE FOR WEDNESDAY
AND THURSDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BUILD DURING THOSE TWO DAYS BUT SHOWER
THREAT WILL REMAIN WITH THE NORTHWEST FLOW. BORSUM

    SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 054/074 051/069 049/070 050/069 051/070 051/073 051/076
    73/T    33/T    23/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    30/U
LVM 048/068 043/063 044/063 045/065 043/068 046/071 046/074
    72/T    22/T    23/T    33/T    33/T    34/T    40/U
HDN 056/076 050/070 050/071 051/070 050/070 052/073 052/076
    63/T    33/T    23/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    30/U
MLS 061/076 052/071 046/073 050/072 052/071 052/074 052/077
    63/T    33/T    23/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    30/U
4BQ 060/078 051/073 053/072 050/073 051/070 051/073 050/077
    63/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    30/U
BHK 061/076 051/072 047/072 049/071 051/069 050/072 050/075
    73/T    33/T    23/T    33/T    33/T    33/T    30/U
SHR 054/074 048/071 052/071 049/071 048/068 048/069 048/075
    63/T    33/T    23/T    34/T    43/T    33/T    30/U

.BYZ...
MT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM (WCN) WATCH UNTIL 800 PM MDT FRIDAY FOR
ZONES MTC009...MTC037...MTC067...MTC095...MTC097...MTC107.

WY...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 20, 11:06 AM MST, 3 hours 7 minutes before

MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-210200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
1206 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 2003

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

.DAY ONE...
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PARK...GOLDEN
VALLEY...CARBON...SWEETGRASS...STILLWATER AND WHEATLAND COUNTIES UNTIL 800 PM
MDT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE
POSSIBLE IN AND AROUND THESE AREAS THROUGH EARLY EVENING. IN
ADDITION...THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY SEVERE ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS
THE REMAINING AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA LATER
THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS
PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA...AND LATER THIS EVENING ACROSS
SOUTHEAST MONTANA.

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 131 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:11 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Sweet Grass

When: June 20, 2:13 PM MST
Where: Sweet Grass County, 17 mi NW of Melville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.267, -110.200

Hail, Yellowstone

When: June 20, 5:20 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, Shepherd
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.950, -108.350

Hail, Yellowstone

When: June 20, 5:22 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, Shepherd
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.950, -108.350

Hail, Yellowstone

When: June 20, 5:24 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, Shepherd
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.950, -108.350

Dime to nickel sized hail almost covering ground

Hail, Yellowstone

When: June 20, 5:26 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, 2 mi N of Shepherd
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.983, -108.350

Hail, Yellowstone

When: June 20, 6:35 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, 20 mi E of Billings
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.800, -108.067

.88 inch hail near Ballantine

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, 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: 5360406, 5360407, 5360408, 5360409, 5360410, 5360411.