1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 26, 8:00 AM MST, 4 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
900 AM MDT THU AUG 26 2004
.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TDY AND FRI...
UPDATE PLANNED THIS MORNING TO ZONE FORECASTS AND STATE FORECAST.
AFTERNOON FORECAST LOOKS PRETTY GOOD AS AREA OF VORTICITY DROPS
SOUTH ALONG WITH THE SURFACE COLD FRONT WHICH IS ACROSS THE HI-
LINE THIS MORNING. HOWEVER...HAVE MADE SEVERAL CHANGES TO THE
MORNING GRIDS TO ACCOUNT FOR LIMITED CLOUD COVER AND LOWER CHANCES
OF PRECIPITATION THIS MORNING AHEAD OF THE FRONT. AREAS ALONG THE
BEARTOOTH/ABSAROKA AND BIG HORN MOUNTAINS CONTINUE TO HAVE MOSTLY
CLOUDY TO OVERCAST SKIES AND HAVE INCREASED SKY COVER AND LEFT
CHANCES FOR PRECIPITATION ALONE THIS MORNING. CARPENTER
.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...WED...
MODELS IN BETTER AGREEMENT TONIGHT WITH THE TRACK AND LOCATION OF AN
UPPER TROUGH THAT WILL PUSH INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST EARLY NEXT
WEEK. SOUTHWEST FLOW AHEAD OF THAT TROUGH NOW PROGGED TO WORK INTO
WESTERN MONTANA BY LATE TUESDAY WITH THE MAIN ENERGY ASSOCIATED WITH
THE TROUGH REMAINING WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY.
DESPITE THE MAIN ENERGY REMAINING WEST...ENOUGH MOISTURE AND
INSTABILITY IN SOUTHWEST FLOW TO ALLOW FOR PRECIP CHANCES FOR
WEDNESDAY IN THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN ZONES AND CONTINUED PREVIOUS
FORECAST THINKING THERE. THURSDAY NOW LOOKS LIKE A MORE ACTIVE DAY
THAN WEDNESDAY AND HAVE INCLUDED POPS FOR ALL AREAS. REMAINDER OF THE
EXTENDED LEFT MOSTLY ALONE EXCEPT SOME TEMPERATURE ADJUSTMENTS AS A
STRONG WARMUP IS STILL EXPECTED FOR THE WEEKEND. MACZKO
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...
TDY FRI SAT SUN MON TUE WED
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 066 048/066 048/075 052/079 056/085 055/087 054/086
4/T 42/T 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B 02/T
LVM 064 040/065 040/074 046/077 047/085 047/086 046/084
6/W 42/T 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B 02/T
HDN 064 047/063 047/074 050/077 051/084 054/085 053/083
4/T 42/T 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B 02/T
MLS 069 048/069 049/076 052/079 053/083 056/091 055/086
7/W 40/B 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B 02/T
4BQ 070 047/068 047/077 051/080 052/084 054/088 053/086
4/T 42/T 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B
BHK 067 045/066 047/075 047/078 048/082 050/086 049/084
7/W 42/W 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B 02/T
SHR 068 043/065 042/073 045/080 046/084 049/086 048/081
3/T 33/T 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B 00/B
&&
.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
&&The Billings radar (KBLX), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:59 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Gustnado developed along boundary ahead of weak convection. Shed was destroyed and blowninto a suburban.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Montana, 2004Warnings in Montana, August 2004
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: 5417978.