Montana, 2004

Hail in Montana, August 3, 2004

August 3, 2004 · NWS MSO · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

2 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
2

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 3, 1:09 PM MST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 1:09 PM MST, 3 hours 26 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
209 PM MDT TUE AUG 3 2004

.SHORT TERM...TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT...MODELS IN GOOD
AGREEMENT WITH SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT, WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES
AND LIMITED AVAILABLE MOISTURE. FORECAST CHALLENGE HAS BEEN THE
TIMING OF CONVECTION FOR TOMORROW EVENING. WILL ALSO NEED TO
CONTINUE EVALUATION OF DRY THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL. THINK THERE IS A
GOOD CHANCE THAT SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT FORM  TOMORROW
AFTERNOON MAY HAVE VERY LITTLE PRECIPITATION. THINK THERE IS ENOUGH
RESIDUAL MOISTURE TODAY TO HAVE SHOWERS WITH AFTERNOON CONVECTION.

.LONG TERM...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY CONTINUE
TO LOOK GOOD FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. UPPER LEVEL SOUTHWEST
FLOW WITH A MODIFIED MARINE PUSH AND THE THERMAL TROUGH LINGERING ALL
LOOK TO ALLOW FOR DECENT STORM STRENGTH. ALSO THE JET STREAM LOOKS TO
ADD SOME DYNAMIC ENHANCEMENT...FURTHER AIDING STORM DEVELOPMENT. AS
OF NOW IT LOOKS AS IF THE STRONGER STORMS WILL BE ACROSS NORTHWEST
MONTANA THURSDAY AS THE MARINE PUSH INTERACTS WITH THE THERMAL
TROUGH AND ACROSS SOUTHWEST MONTANA FRIDAY AS THE COLD FRONT PUSHES
THROUGH. LATE FRIDAY EVENING THE SURFACE COLD FRONT WILL HAVE PUSHED
THROUGH...MAKING FOR A CHANCE OF POST FRONTAL SHOWERS...MAINLY
ACROSS NORTHWEST MONTANA AND COOLER TEMPERATURES. SUNDAY THROUGH
TUESDAY AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MAKE FOR A WARMING
AND DRYING TREND.
&&

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

SHORT TERM/KREYENHAGEN/KOLATA
LONG TERM/GILCHRIST

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 3, 2:27 PM MST, 2 hours 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
327 PM MDT TUE AUG 03 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0215 PM     HAIL             3 NW MISSOULA           46.90N 114.04W
08/03/2004  0.75 INCH        MISSOULA           MT   NWS EMPLOYEE

            HAIL MEASURED AT WFO BY NWS PERSONNEL.

0219 PM     HAIL             3 NW MISSOULA           46.90N 114.04W
08/03/2004  1.25 INCH        MISSOULA           MT   NWS EMPLOYEE

            HAIL REPORTED ON ROAD NEAR AIRPORT.

&&

MEK

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 7 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:34 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Missoula

When
August 3, 4:35 PM MST
Where
Missoula County, Evaro
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.050, -114.083

Hail, Lake

When
August 3, 4:47 PM MST
Where
Lake County, 2 mi SE of Arlee
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
47.133, -114.050

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: 5420018, 5420019.