Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, May 25, 2003

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, May 25, 2003
Start: 2003-05-25T14:30
End: 2003-05-25T15:56
Location: Montana

May 25, 2003 · NWS MSO · 5 events in 4 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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.

Late afternoon severe thunderstorms developed over western Montana, with damaging winds and dime size hail reported in areas of Missoula, Lake, Flathead and Powell Counties. Dime size hail occurred in Missoula and Elliston. Damaging winds downed trees onto roads and power lines in Missoula, Arlee, Olney and northwest of Kalispell. A greenhouse was damaged in Arlee, and fires were started from downed power lines near Kalispell.

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 May 25, 1:30 PM MST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 25, 1:30 PM MST, 1 hour before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
230 PM MDT SUN MAY 25 2003

.SHORT TERM...HAVE ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING FOR THE BITTERROOT RIVER
IN RAVALLI COUNTY FOR TONIGHT. RIVER LEVELS ARE GETTING CLOSE TO
FLOOD STAGE WITH RFC GUIDANCE TAKING IT OVER FLOOD STAGE MONDAY
MORNING. THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE AREA THIS EVENING AND
TONIGHT COULD HELP RAISE THE LEVELS A LITTLE FASTER.

WE ARE STARTING TO SEE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
CWA THIS AFTERNOON. SHORTWAVE MOVING UP INTO THE CWA IN THE MOIST
SOUTHWEST FLOW AND KICKING OFF THE THUNDERSTORMS. EXPECT THE
THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS TO CONTINUE TONIGHT. WILL ADD THE MENTION
OF STRONG WINDS WITH SMALL HAIL TO THE SOUTHERN ZONES FOR TONIGHT. ON
MONDAY THE TROUGH HAS PUSHED ACROSS THE AREA WITH SOME SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS LINGERING. THE RIDGE STARTS TO REBUILD INTO THE AREA ON
TUESDAY WITH DRYING AND WARMING CONDITIONS. KOLATA

.LONG TERM...NOT TOO FAVORABLE PATTERN IN THE EXTENDED FOR PRECIP.
THERE WILL BE A DISTURBANCE SLIDING ACROSS THE CANADIAN BORDER
WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...BRINGING A CHANCE/SLIGHT CHANCE FOR
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WIND FLOW ALOFT TURNS WESTERLY AND ZONAL
WHICH DOES NOT LOOK VERY FAVORABLE FOR PRECIP. WILL HOLD ONTO SOME
ISOLATED SHOWERS IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN IN NORTHWEST MONTANA THURSDAY
NIGHT. BOTH GFS AND EURO SHOWING WARMING TREND FRIDAY INTO MONDAY.
GFS IS DOING THIS WITHOUT RIDGING IN THE UPPER LEVELS. EURO SEEMS
MORE IN PHASE WITH THE WARMING AND WILL GO CLOSER TO ITS DEPICTION
OF THE WEATHER PATTERN. THIS WOULD SHOW VERY MINIMAL CHANCES FOR
PRECIP WITH UPPER RIDGE OVERHEAD. ANY FRONTS LOOK TO REMAIN OUT TO
OUR WEST UNTIL MONDAY. THIS WOULD RESULT IN BETTER FOCUS FOR
PRECIP.  DICKSON

.MSO...FLOOD WARNING FOR THE BITTERROOT RIVER THIS EVENING INTO
       MONDAY...

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB BBB 050/076 048/078 045/081 39641001
     BBBB 049/076 047/076 045/078 045/080 3722111111
FCA BUB 050/075 048/077 044/079 39632001
     BBBB 047/072 044/072 043/075 043/076 3722111111
POL BUB 051/076 049/077 045/081 39632001
     BBBB 051/074 048/075 047/077 047/079 3722111111
MSO BUB 052/078 050/080 047/083 39632001
     BBBB 050/076 046/075 046/078 046/080 3721111111
HMM BUB 052/080 050/082 047/084 39632001
     BBBB 048/077 046/078 046/080 046/081 3720011111
BTM EUB 050/077 048/079 045/082 39533001
     BBBB 047/074 043/075 041/076 041/078 3720011111
ORO BUB 055/079 053/084 051/086 39520000
     BBBB 055/080 053/081 052/082 052/083 3722100011
GRV BUB 051/073 049/078 050/080 39530000
     BBBB 050/076 048/077 048/077 048/079 3711111111
SMN EUB 051/081 049/083 047/085 39532001
     BBBB 048/077 045/079 043/081 043/082 3720011111

Hazardous weather outlook, May 25, 1:30 PM MST, 1 hour before

MTZ001>007-043-IDZ005>010-261200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
230 PM MDT SUN MAY 25 2003

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

.DAY ONE... TODAY

ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH POTENTIAL FOR STRONG WINDS AND
SMALL HAIL MAY DEVELOP THIS EVENING OVER NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND
NORTHWEST MONTANA.

IN ADDITION...RIVERS ACROSS WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO
WILL BE RISING QUICKLY AND FLOWING AT HIGH LEVELS THIS MEMORIAL
WEEKEND. A FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE BITTERROOT RIVER FOR
TONIGHT INTO MONDAY...FOR FURTHER DETAILS CHECK GTFFLSMSO. FOR
INFORMATION ON THE OTHER RIVERS ACROSS WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH
CENTRAL IDAHO CHECK THE LATEST RIVER STATEMENT FOR RIVER LEVELS...OR
GTFRVSMSO.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

THE THREAT FOR RISING RIVER CONDITIONS PERSISTS AS WARMER
TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE PRODUCE RAPID SNOW MELT 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), 126 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Powell

When: May 25, 2:30 PM MST
Where: Powell County, Elliston
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.567, -112.417

Thunderstorm Wind, Missoula

When: May 25, 3:12 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, Missoula
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.883, -114.000

Hail, Missoula

When: May 25, 3:27 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, Missoula
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.883, -114.000

Thunderstorm Wind, Lake

When: May 25, 3:40 PM MST
Where: Lake County, Arlee
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.150, -114.083

Thunderstorm Wind, Flathead

When: May 25, 3:53 PM MST to 3:56 PM MST
Where: Flathead County, Olney
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.550, -114.567

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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, 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: 5353906, 5353907, 5353908, 5353909, 5353910.