Damaging Winds in Montana, March 14, 2003

Name: Damaging Winds in Montana, March 14, 2003
Start: 2003-03-14T15:37
End: 2003-03-14T16:40
Location: Montana

March 14, 2003 · NWS MSO · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 MSO wrote it up.

A line of thunderstorms with wind gusts exceeding 60 mph, moved through Sanders, Lake and Flathead Counties, leaving a wake of wind damage to power lines, trees, buildings and airplanes. As the storms moved through Sanders County, strong winds knocked down trees onto power lines and injured a man in Paradise. In the town of Dixon, strong winds blew roofs off homes that hit and damaged the Old Dixon Store. As the storms moved through Lake County, wind damage was reported from Ronan to the southern end of Flathead Lake. Strong winds at the Ronan Airport caused the ropes to break off a Cessna 150, which careened into a Cessna 172, damaging both airplanes. Trees were reported uprooted near Finley Point and Polson, leaving at least two houses damaged from fallen trees. Strong wind gusts tore off part of the face of the Old Mill Place along Main Street in Polson, damaging a vehicle. 10 miles west of Polson, a small barn was blown over in Irvine Flats. Before the storms weakened in Flathead County, a twelve inchdiameter tree was blown over near Big Fork, damaging a home owners fence.

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 14, 2:30 PM MST, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 14, 2:30 PM MST, 1 hour 7 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
230 PM MST FRI MAR 14 2003

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT...CONVECTION CURRENTLY STARTING TO FIRE WITH A
LINE EVIDENT ON SATELLITE AND RADAR...NOW ENTERING THE CENTRAL IDAHO
PANHANDLE AND NORTHWEST MONTANA. SOUTHWEST FLOW WITH A DECENT
SHORTWAVE AND A COLD POOL ALOFT WILL MAKE FOR AN UNSTABLE EVENING
ACROSS THE CWA. THIS WILL KEEP SHOWERS...WITH ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
GOING THROUGH ABOUT 7 PM THEN THEY SHOULD DIE OFF AFTER THE SUN GOES
DOWN. DURING THE EARLY MORNING THE NEXT APPROACHING SHORTWAVE WILL
BEGIN TO GENERATE PRECIPITATION OVER THE NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO. WILL
INCREASE CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION IN CENTRAL IDAHO AND NW MONTANA...
WILL LOWER THEM ELSEWHERE. OVERNIGHT TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER
TONIGHT THEN LAST. COOLER AIRMASS OVERHEAD AS WELL AS SOME PARTIAL
CLEARING TONIGHT SHOULD HELP PUSH TEMPS DOWN. THESE COOLER
TEMPERATURES WILL HELP STEM RUNOFF FROM SNOWMELT...HELPING TO LOWER
THE THREAT OF FLOODING. WINDS ARE CURRENTLY PICKING UP ALONG THE
CAMAS PRAIRIE AND SALMON RIVER CANYONS. EXPECT THESE WINDS TO
DECREASE SOME THIS EVENING AND THEN INCREASE AGAIN BY SATURDAY
MORNING AS THE NEXT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE ENTERS THE AREA.
GILCHRIST

A STRONGER PACIFIC WEATHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHCENTRAL IDAHO
SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND ACROSS WESTERN MONTANA SATURDAY NIGHT AND
EARLY SUNDAY. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME UNSTABLE WITH THE PASSAGE OF
THIS SYSTEM.  IN ADDITION...A COOLER AIR MASS WILL FLOOD ACROSS THE
REGION LOWERING SNOW LEVELS SIGNIFICANTLY BY SUNDAY.  A FAIRLY
UNSTABLE AND COOL AIR MASS WILL PERSIST INTO MONDAY.

.LONG TERM...A DISORGANIZED AND SPLIT FLOW ALOFT WILL DOMINATE MUCH
OF NEXT WEEK.  WEATHER DISTURBANCES THAT MOVE INLAND FROM THE PACIFIC
WILL WEAKEN CONSIDERABLY AND LIKELY FALL APART.  THE END RESULT
SHOULD BE NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND A RELATIVELY LOW THREAT OF
PRECIPITATION. BAUCK

.MSO...WIND ADVISORY FOR IDZ007-008 TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB WEE 035/054 034/051 028/049 33666333
     BBBB 026/049 027/051 029/051 030/052 2931111222
FCA WEB 033/056 032/050 025/049 33456323
     BBBB 024/049 024/051 026/051 027/049 2922111222
POL WEB 037/059 033/052 027/050 33456323
     BBBB 025/050 026/051 028/051 029/050 2921111222
MSO WEB 034/059 033/051 027/050 33446423
     BBBB 026/050 026/052 028/052 029/052 2922111222
HMM WWB 035/060 034/052 027/051 33447523
     BBBB 025/051 027/053 029/053 030/053 2922111222
BTM EJB 030/057 028/045 020/042 33325623
     BBBB 019/044 020/045 022/045 023/049 2922111222
ORO WBE 045/060 039/055 032/053 33666434
     BBBB 030/053 030/055 032/055 033/058 2932111222
GRV WEE 042/057 035/052 025/049 33666434
     BBBB 024/049 024/052 026/052 027/051 2942222222
SMN WWB 034/059 031/049 025/046 33447523
     BBBB 024/046 024/049 026/049 027/051 2922111222

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 14, 1:35 PM MST, 2 hours 2 minutes before

MTZ001>007-043-IDZ005>010-151300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
135 PM MST FRI MAR 14 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH
CENTRAL IDAHO

.DAY ONE... TODAY

GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BLOW ACROSS THE CAMAS PRAIRIE AND
SALMON RIVER CANYONS OF CENTRAL IDAHO TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING.
PLEASE SEE LATEST NON PRECIPITATION WEATHER STATEMENT...GTFNPWMSO
FOR DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Sanders

When: March 14, 3:37 PM MST to 4:00 PM MST
Where: Sanders County, Paradise
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) estimated gust
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 47.383, -114.817

Thunderstorm Wind, Lake

When: March 14, 3:38 PM MST to 4:20 PM MST
Where: Lake County, Ronan
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) measured gust
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 47.533, -114.100

Thunderstorm Wind, Flathead

When: March 14, 4:35 PM MST to 4:40 PM MST
Where: Flathead County, 2 mi E of Bigfork
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.067, -114.017

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, March 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: 5346811, 5346810, 5346812.