Name: Hail in Montana, May 15, 2003
Start: 2003-05-15T16:55
End: 2003-05-15T16:55
Location: Montana

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: 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 0.75 inch hail at Inverness 14S.

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 15, 1:00 PM MST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 1:00 PM MST, 3 hours 55 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
200 PM MDT THU MAY 15 2003

.SHORT TERM...UPPER TROF CONTINUES TO MOVE TOWARDS WESTERN MT.
SURFACE COLD FRONT IN CENTRAL MONTANA SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE SLOWLY
SOUTHEAST. ENOUGH HEATING AHEAD OF FRONT AND COOLING BEHIND THE FRONT
FOR MIXING AND DESTABILIZING AIR. RAIN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LATE
THIS AFTERNOON INTO LATE THIS EVENING FOR MOST OF CWA. GOOD CHANCE OF
SOME STRONG WINDS WITH THESE STORMS AND POSSIBLY HAIL. MAY BE A FEW
STORMS THAT ARE SEVERE ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHEASTERN ZONES SO WILL
WORD ZONES AS SUCH. COOLER TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WITH SOME RECOVERY ON
FRIDAY. CLEARING SKIES FRIDAY NIGHT FOR EVEN COOLER TEMPERATURES.
AREA GOES INTO SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT ON SATURDAY WITH A SURFACE HIGH
DEVELOPING OVER THE CWA. SURFACE LOW TO DEVELOP SATURDAY NIGHT WITH
INCREASE OF MOISTURE BUT MODELS DISAGREE ON PLACEMENT AND TIMING.
SHORT WAVES TO MOVE THROUGH THE FLOW SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. WILL
GO DRY FOR SATURDAY AND A CHANCE OF PRECIP FOR SUNDAY AT THIS
TIME. CAMP

.EXTENDED...UPPER TROUGH SKIPS PAST THE AREA MONDAY. THE RESULTING
NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CAUSE A DRYING TREND AND WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO
RECOVER TO NEAR AVERAGE BY WEDNESDAY. CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE THAT
WILL RIDE THE NORTHWEST FLOW INTO THE CWA WILL KEEP WINDS LIGHT
THROUGH THE PERIOD. POMEROY

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BE 038/057 031/054 034 07600
    EEBBB 048/032 056/032 061/036 065/039 067 00332200000
CTB NE 035/051 029/051 034 07200
    EEBBB 046/032 054/032 059/036 063/039 063 00332200000
HLN BE 040/060 034/055 035 07620
    EBBBB 052/033 059/035 064/037 067/040 069 02332200000
BZN BE 041/060 029/054 032 07722
    EBBBB 051/030 057/031 060/033 064/037 066 22332200000
WEY BE 030/047 026/046 028 07422
    EEBBB 043/029 047/032 056/036 059/038 059 22443300000
DLN BE 037/057 028/051 030 07522
    EBBBB 046/030 054/032 060/034 063/038 064 22332200000
HVR BE 038/059 032/056 037 07700
    EEBBB 048/035 058/035 063/039 068/041 070 00332200000
LWT BE 039/057 029/053 034 07700
    EEBBB 049/032 051/033 056/036 061/039 061 0-332200000

.TFX...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, May 15, 5:15 AM MST, 11 hours 40 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-160010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
615 AM MDT THU MAY 15 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON...AHEAD OF A PACIFIC COLD FRONT. SOME OF THESE STORMS
COULD BE SEVERE. AREAS EAST OF A LINE FROM HAVRE...TO GREAT
FALLS...TO HELENA...AND THEN TO BOZEMAN...WILL HAVE THE HIGHEST
POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER. THE BEST CHANCES FOR SEVERE STORMS TO
OCCUR WILL BE FROM 4 PM TO 10 PM THIS EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT FROM
THESE STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

MUCH COOLER AIR WILL ENTER MONTANA THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. BY SUNDAY
MORNING...TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM THE UPPER 20S TO
MID 30S IN MANY AREAS...WITH HIGH TEMPERATURES MOSTLY IN THE 40S.
THIS WILL ALLOW FOR A MIXTURE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN THE LOWER
ELEVATIONS...AND ALL SNOW TO FALL IN THE MOUNTAINS. ANYONE WHO HAS
OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES PLANNED FOR LATER THIS WEEKEND SHOULD BE PREPARED
FOR MORE WINTER LIKE CONDITIONS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:52 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Hill

When: May 15, 4:55 PM MST
Where: Hill County, 14 mi S of Inverness
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.367, -110.683

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

More

Every storm in Montana in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, May 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: 5358268.