Montana, 2004

Hail in Montana, August 19, 2004

August 19, 2004 · NWS MSO · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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
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 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 19, 8:02 AM MST, 5 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 19, 8:02 AM MST, 5 hours 13 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
902 AM MDT THU AUG 19 2004

.UPDATE...THE SATELLITE AND RADAR ARE SHOWING THAT THE UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE MOVING SOUTHWARD OUT OF CANADA IS CAUSING CONVECTION
EARLIER THAN FORECASTED. SO ADDED MORNING CONVECTION TO THE NORTHWEST
MONTANA ZONES. ALSO REMOVED THE MENTION OF PATCHY FOG...CURRENT
SATELLITE IS SHOWING THAT THE FOG IS DISSIPATING.

&&

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT...
NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. WITH CLEARING
SKIES AND ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE EXPECT PATCHY FOG TO DEVELOP
ACROSS PORTIONS OF WESTERN MONTANA THIS MORNING. THIS AFTERNOON THE
ATMOSPHERE WILL DESTABILIZE WITH SURFACE HEATING. THIS INSTABILITY
WILL COMBINE WITH LINGERING MOISTURE AND WEAK UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCES CAUSING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. STORM
ACTIVITY LOOKS TO DECREASE WITH THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING THURSDAY
NIGHT. FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THE UPPER RIDGE TO THE WEST IS
WEAKENED BY AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE OVER NORTH CENTRAL
CANADA. THIS WILL PLACE THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR PRECIPITATION ACROSS
NORTHWEST MONTANA INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. HOWEVER CAN NOT RULE OUT AN
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM OR TWO DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS
SOUTHWEST MONTANA AND EAST CENTRAL IDAHO AS THE ATMOSPHERE AGAIN
DESTABILIZES WITH SOLAR HEATING.

SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...WEAK RIDGE AT FIRST OVER
THE REGION. AS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES TOWARD THE BRITISH COLUMBIA
COAST THE RIDGE GETS FLATTENED BY EARLY SUNDAY. AFTER THAT A SERIES
OF LOWS MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH THURSDAY KEEPING A CHANCE OF
SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES.
&&

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

UPDATE/SMITH
PREVIOUS DISCUSSION/GILCHRIST/KOLATA

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:15 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Lake

When
August 19, 1:15 PM MST
Where
Lake County, Proctor
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
47.883, -114.300

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 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: 5420029.