Thunderstorm Wind, Mineral
- When
- August 17, 4:45 PM MST
- Where
- Mineral County, Superior
- Measured
- 53 kt (61 mph) estimated gust
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 47.200, -114.900
Damaging Wind in Montana, August 17, 2004
Mineral County Sheriff reported power lines and trees down inside the city limits of Superior from strong thunderstorm winds.
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
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 MSO wrote it up.
Mineral County Sheriff reported power lines and trees down inside the city limits of Superior from strong thunderstorm winds.
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 Aug 17, 1:44 PM MST, 3 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 1:44 PM MST, 3 hours 1 minute before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 244 PM MDT TUE AUG 17 2004 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON...CURRENT RADAR AND SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS MANY PULSE TYPE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN FORECAST AREA. THESE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING. RADAR ESTIMATES MOST STORMS ARE PRODUCING 0.1 TO 0.3 INCHES OF RAIN AN HOUR...BUT A FEW HAVE BEEN ESTIMATED AT OVER AN INCH PER HOUR. STORM COVERAGE AND STRENGTH IS EXPECTED TO DECREASE AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. CONTINUING HIGH PRESSURE...WARM AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES...MOIST ATMOPSHERE...AND CALM WINDS ALOFT WILL KEEP PULSE AND SLOW MOVING WET THUNDERSTORMS GOING OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL. STORMS WILL BE MAINLY DIURNAL...BUT A FEW ARE EXPECTED TO STRAGGLE ON OVER NIGHT. THIS LOOKS ESPECIALLY GOOD WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS A WEAK JET STREAM MAXIMUM SETS UP OVER THE IDAHO/MONTANA BORDER. TEMPERATURES WILL BE FAIRLY CONSISTENT THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON...WITH THINGS COOLING DOWN SLIGHTLY TOMORROW AS MORE OF A NORTHERLY FLOW SETS UP INTO THE REGION. .LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...MAJOR MODEL CHANGES FOR THIS PERIOD. THE NEW GFS IS SHOWING A STRONG PACIFIC SYSTEM MOVING OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SETTING UP OVER WESTERN MONTANA AND IDAHO SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY. HAVE TRENDED PRECIPITATION UP AND TEMPERATURES DOWN FOR THE PERIOD. IF FUTURE MODEL RUNS CONTINUE TO SHOW THIS PATTERN WILL NEED TO INCREASE PRECIPITATION CHANCES SUBSTANTIALLY OVER MOST OF THE AREA... PARTICULARLY IN THE SUNDAY AND MONDAY TIME FRAME. && .MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...NONE. ID...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR IDAHO ZONES 106 THROUGH 110 THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. && SHORT TERM/STEGEMILLER LONG TERM/MWJ
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 17, 6:18 AM MST, 10 hours 27 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 720 AM MDT (620 AM PDT) TUE AUG 17 2004 IDZ005>010-MTZ005>007-180600- CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS-OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION-LOWER HELLS CANYON/SALMON RIVER-LEMHI COUNTY-BITTERROOT VALLEY- BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS-BUTTE/PINTLAR REGION- 720 AM MDT (620 AM PDT) TUE AUG 17 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA .DAY ONE... TODAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WEST CENTRAL MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING WITH A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS...DUE TO TO THEIR SLOW MOVEMENT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The radar
The Missoula radar (KMSX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:45 UTC.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in Georgia, August 17, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, August 17, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, August 17, 2004
- Flash Flood and Hail in Illinois, August 17, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Indiana, August 17, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, August 17, 2004
- Flash Flooding in Idaho, August 17 to 18, 2004
- Flash Flooding in Texas, August 17, 2004
- Hail in Missouri, August 17, 2004
- Damaging Winds in Georgia, August 17, 2004
- Hail in Missouri, August 17, 2004
- Flash Flood and Damaging Wind in North Carolina, August 17, 2004
More
Every storm in Montana in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, August 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: 5420028.