Name: Damaging Wind in Montana, April 18, 2004
Start: 2004-04-18T14:05
End: 2004-04-18T14:10
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: $100,000
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 MSO wrote it up.

An isolated thunderstorm with micro burst winds blew a 20 by 90 foot house trailer over at Nine Mile. A 4 by 8 foot sheet of panelling was also ripped off the house and thrown several hundred feet in the air, which landed in Huson.

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 Apr 18, 11:59 AM MST, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 18, 11:59 AM MST, 2 hours 6 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
1259 PM MDT SUN APR 18 2004

.SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...BOTH ETA AND GFS MODELS
SHOW SIMILAR SOLUTIONS FOR THE SHORT TERM. SPLIT FLOW PATTERN AT
UPPER-LEVELS WITH TROF LOCATED OVER NEVADA AND RIDGING OVER BRITISH
COLUMBIA. WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY STRETCHES FROM DEEP LOW OVER CENTRAL
COLORADO BACK INTO CENTRAL WASHINGTON. IN ADDITION...WATER VAPOR
SATELLITE IMAGERY AT 12PM SHOWS WEAK UPPER-LEVEL CIRCULATION WHERE
THE WASHINGTON...OREGON...AND IDAHO STATE BORDERS INTERSECT. THIS
CIRCULATION WILL MOVE OVER NORTHWEST MONTANA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THUS PROVIDING ENHANCEMENT TO SHOWERS AND MAYBE A LIGHTNING
STRIKE OR TWO IN THE NORTHERN BITTERROOT AND CABINET MOUNTAINS. STILL
UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF TROF ON MONDAY...WITH BEST CHANCE OF GENERAL
SHOWERS IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA AND CENTRAL IDAHO. HOWEVER...HAVE ADDED
SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN FOR NORTHERN BITTERROOT AND
CABINET MOUNTAINS MONDAY DUE TO ABUNDANT SUNSHINE...HEATING...AND
INSTABILITY. FOR TUESDAY...A STRONG PACIFIC FRONT WILL MOVE OVER THE
AREA BRINGING WINDS...AND INCREASED SHOWER ACTIVITY. THIS TUESDAY
EVENT WILL BE THE BIGGEST WEATHER MAKER OF THE SHORT TERM. TEMPS WILL
REMAIN SIMILAR TO LAST FEW DAYS...WITH MANY VALLEY HIGHS REACHING THE
UPPER 40S TO MID 50S.

.LONG TERM...TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...CLOSED LOW OVER THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST WEAKENS...BUT STILL HOLDS A GOOD POTENTIAL TO PUMP
DECENT MOISTURE INTO THE REGION TUESDAY NIGHT. COLD AIR ALOFT MAY
INDUCE LOWER SNOW LEVELS THAN PREVIOUSLY FORECASTED...THUS INCREASE
MENTION OF SNOW IN THE FORECAST. THIS COOL UPPER TROUGH OPENS UP INTO
A BROAD TROUGH WEDNESDAY AS IT DRIFTS EASTWARD OVER THE INTER-
MOUNTAIN REGION. THE AIR MASS WILL REMAIN QUITE UNSTABLE WITH BEST
CHANCE OF PRECIP ACROSS NORTH-CENTRAL IDAHO.
THURSDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT...AS THE UPPER TROUGH EXITS TO THE EAST...A
QUICK BUILDING RIDGE TAKES ITS PLACE OFFERING A DRY PERIOD.
FRIDAY/FRIDAY NIGHT...MODELS BACKING ON STRENGTHENING THE SHORT-WAVE
SYSTEM WHICH REVERSES THE THINKING OF INCREASING POPS FOR FRIDAY
NIGHT. WILL WAIT BEFORE MAKING ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO AVOID YO-
YOING FORECAST...ESPECIALLY 5-6 DAYS OUT.
SATURDAY/SUNDAY...PREVIOUS ECMWF/LATEST GFS AGREE WITH DEEPENING OF
A BROAD GULF OF ALASKA TROUGH. THIS IN TURN PUMPS UP A RIDGE OVER
THE WESTERN U.S. AND A RETURN OF DRY WARMING CONDITIONS TO THE AREA.
&&

.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
ID...NONE.
&&

SHORT TERM/MWJ
LONG TERM/MSJ

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 18, 6:53 AM MST, 7 hours 12 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
753 AM MDT (653 AM PDT) SUN APR 18 2004

IDZ005>010-MTZ001>007-043-181445-
NORTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-SOUTHERN CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-
OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION-LOWER HELLS CANYON/SALMON RIVER-
WESTERN LEMHI COUNTY-EASTERN LEMHI COUNTY-KOOTENAI/CABINET REGION-
WEST GLACIER REGION-FLATHEAD/MISSION VALLEYS-LOWER CLARK FORK REGION-
MISSOULA/BITTERROOT VALLEYS-BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS-
BUTTE/PINTLAR REGION-BLACKFOOT REGION-
753 AM MDT (653 AM PDT) SUN APR 18 2004

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

.DAY ONE... TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:04 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Missoula

When: April 18, 2:05 PM MST to 2:10 PM MST
Where: Missoula County, Nine Mile
Measured: 58 kt (67 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: FIRE DEPT/RESCUE SQUAD
Coordinates: 47.000, -114.417

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

More

Every storm in Montana in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, April 2004

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: 5391139.