Dust Devil in Montana, September 3, 2003

Name: Dust Devil in Montana, September 3, 2003
Start: 2003-09-03T15:17
End: 2003-09-03T15:18
Location: Montana

September 3, 2003 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A dust devil went through the Rathbone Wildfire Base Camp on the 3rd. The dust devil was on the ground for 1 minute, it was 6 feet wide, and traveled one half mile.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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: $3,000
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 dust devil went through the Rathbone Wildfire Base Camp on the 3rd. The dust devil was on the ground for 1 minute, it was 6 feet wide, and traveled one half mile. The dust devil struck a few camping tents and one equipment tent. A few personal items and a laptop computer were damaged. Some of this debris was blown in the air about 3000 feet.

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 Sep 3, 1:08 PM MST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 3, 1:08 PM MST, 2 hours 9 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
208 PM MDT WED SEP 3 2003

.DISCUSSION...

TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...UPPER RIDGE AND ASSOCIATED DOWNWARD MOTION IN
THE ATMOSPHERE WILL KEEP SKIES CLEAR TONIGHT. AREA OF SHOWERS OVER
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA WILL TAKE A CIRCUITOUS ROUTE AROUND THE RIDGE
OVERNIGHT. ONLY HIGH CLOUDS WILL REMAIN FROM THIS SYSTEM BY THE TIME
IT GETS TO CENTRAL MONTANA LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON. CLOUDS WILL
THICKEN DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING OVER NORTH AND WEST
ZONES...BUT LOW LEVELS WILL BE EXTREMELY DRY SO NO RAIN WILL BE
GENERATED. HIGHS WILL SOAR TO WITHIN A FEW DEGREES OF RECORDS AT SOME
PLACES.

THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...HIGH CLOUDS MOVE EAST LATE IN
THE EVENING. ETA HINTS AT POSSIBILITY OF A WEAK CANADIAN COLD FRONT
AFFECTING THE PLAINS FRIDAY. WHETHER THIS OCCURS OR NOT WILL ONLY
MEAN ABOUT A 5 DEGREE DIFFERENCE IN THE HIGH TEMP. FOR NOW WILL SIDE
WITH WARMER SOLUTION OF GFS AND ASSUME UPPER RIDGE STAYS PRETTY
STRONG FRIDAY. OVER THE SOUTHWEST...AN INTRUSION OF MONSOON MOISTURE
COMBINED WITH STEEP MID-LEVEL LAPSE RATES SHOULD BRING SCATTERED
SHOWERS FRIDAY NIGHT. POMEROY

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE SLIDES INTO THE DAKOTAS AS
THE DEEP EASTERN PACIFIC TROUGH FINALLY ROTATES INLAND. SOUTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT SETS UP OVER AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS FOR A CHANCE OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA AND OVER THE WESTERN
MOUNTAINS. TEMPERATURES REMAIN ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS AHEAD OF THE
UPPER TROUGH. MPJ

MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...THE MODELS INDICATE A MUCH COOLER AND
UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW
PRESSURE IS PROGGED TO DROP INTO MONTANA FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA
MONDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING TO HANG IN TROUGH WEDNESDAY. MOST OF
MONDAY STILL LOOKS PRETTY WARM...BUT TURNING MUCH COOLER TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY ALONG WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS. HOWEVER...DOWNSLOPE FLOW WILL
LIMIT PRECIPITATION TO ISOLATED SHOWERS ACROSS THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN
FRONT ON WEDNESDAY. WILLIAMSON DC

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF UB 052/092 054/084 051 19000
    BBEEB 086/051 085/051 078/044 069/043 068 00000333331
CTB UB 050/086 050/080 049 19000
    BBEEB 082/049 081/047 072/043 066/040 064 00000333331
HLN UB 052/095 055/086 053 19000
    BBEEB 090/052 087/052 077/045 070/041 067 01221444332
BZN UB 044/090 046/083 046 19000
    BBEEE 083/047 083/046 075/043 068/039 066 03323444333
WEY UB 035/084 041/074 040 19000
    EBEEE 072/040 073/042 070/043 059/031 058 -433-444333
DLN UB 049/088 049/080 049 19000
    BBEEE 080/047 078/047 071/040 069/038 063 02222444331
HVR UU 047/094 052/087 051 19000
    BBEEB 090/052 086/052 083/044 069/042 069 00000333333
LWT UU 048/090 050/083 050 19000
    BBEEB 083/050 084/049 079/044 069/041 067 00002444333

.TFX...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 3, 5:10 AM MST, 10 hours 7 minutes before

MTZ008>015-044>055-040010-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
610 AM MDT WED SEP 3 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MONTANA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

NO WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN EFFECT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

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

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.

Dust Devil, Gallatin

When: September 3, 3:17 PM MST to 3:18 PM MST
Where: Gallatin County, 6 mi N of West Yellowstone
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.541, -111.170 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Dust Devil: A small rotating column of dust from surface heating that caused damage or injury.

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, September 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: 5337108.