Hail, Jefferson
- When
- August 3, 3:20 PM MST
- Where
- Jefferson County, Whitehall
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- GOVT OFFICIAL
- Coordinates
- 45.867, -112.100
Hail in Montana, August 3, 2004
A severe thunderstorm produced quarter-sized hail at Whitehall 10E.
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 TFX wrote it up.
A severe thunderstorm produced quarter-sized hail at Whitehall 10E.
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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 3, 1:55 PM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 1:55 PM MST, 1 hour 25 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MONTANA
255 PM MDT TUE AUG 3 2004
.DISCUSSION...
TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...ACTIVE NIGHT OF CONVECTION IN STORE
FOR CWA AS SHORT WAVE MOVES THROUGH THE SOUTHWEST FLOW. SPECIAL 18Z
TFX SOUNDING WAS NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE BUT BUFKIT SOUNDINGS FOR
SURROUNDING POINTS HAVE BEEN WITH CAPES NEARING 1000. ALSO HAVE
STATIONARY FRONT DRAPED ACROSS CENTRAL MONTANA...PLENTY TO KICK OFF
STORMS. WITH A COUPLE OF STORMS THAT HAVE ALREADY REACHED SEVERE
LIMITS HAVE CONTINUED MENTION IN ZONES FOR ALL AREAS.
WILL SEE CONTINUED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY
AND THURSDAY AS SMALL DISTURBANCES ROTATE THROUGH. BY THURSDAY NIGHT
RIDGE HAS MOVED TO THE WESTERN DAKOTAS WITH UPPER TROUGH
APPROACHING. THOMSON
FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...GOING FORECAST ON TRACK WITH UPPER LEVEL
TROF TO MOVE THROUGH AREA ON WEEKEND WITH SURFACE FRONT MOVING
THROUGH FRIDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. ONLY CHANGE WAS DROPPING SOME
TEMPERATURES AND UPPING CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION ESPECIALLY OVER
NORTHERN ZONES FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AN
UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MAKE FOR A WARMING AND
DRYING TREND. CAMP
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GTF BB 054/085 056/087 055 11322
BBUUU 083/053 081/054 083/051 084/054 084 22231000000
CTB BB 053/082 054/084 053 11322
BBUUU 078/051 076/052 078/049 081/052 081 22232000000
HLN BB 060/083 059/088 058 11322
BBUUU 086/056 083/057 086/054 085/057 085 22231000000
BZN BB 051/084 056/086 055 11322
BBUUU 086/053 080/054 084/051 083/054 083 11221000000
WEY BB 045/070 048/072 046 11222
BBUUU 072/044 065/047 070/044 069/047 069 2200-000000
DLN BB 049/082 055/084 054 11322
BBUUU 081/052 080/053 082/050 081/053 081 2222-000000
HVR BB 057/083 056/089 055 11322
BBUUU 087/053 082/054 083/051 086/054 086 -2232000000
LWT BB 055/084 054/087 053 11322
BBUUU 083/051 076/052 083/049 084/052 084 01221000000
&&
.TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.
&&Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 3, 5:00 AM MST, 10 hours 20 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 600 AM MDT TUE AUG 3 2004 MTZ009>013-044>051-054-041145- BLAINE-CASCADE-CHOUTEAU-EASTERN GLACIER-EASTERN PONDERA- EASTERN TETON-FERGUS-HILL-JUDITH BASIN-LIBERTY-MEAGHER- NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-TOOLE- 600 AM MDT TUE AUG 3 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA .DAY ONE...TODAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP TODAY OVER NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. NO WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN EFFECT .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ008-014-015-052-053-055-041145- BEAVERHEAD-BROADWATER-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-GALLATIN- JEFFERSON-MADISON- 600 AM MDT TUE AUG 3 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST MONTANA .DAY ONE...TODAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP TODAY. SOME OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. NO WATCHES, WARNINGS, OR ADVISORIES CURRENTLY IN EFFECT .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Aug 3, 1:37 PM MST, 1 hour 43 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
237 PM MDT TUE AUG 03 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0236 PM HAIL HELENA 46.60N 112.02W
08/03/2004 0.88 INCH LEWIS AND CLARK MT TRAINED SPOTTER
HEAVY RAIN
&&
JNSLocal storm report, Aug 3, 2:06 PM MST, 1 hour 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
306 PM MDT TUE AUG 03 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0305 PM HAIL HELENA 46.60N 112.02W
08/03/2004 0.88 INCH LEWIS AND CLARK MT LAW ENFORCEMENT
&&
CZThe radar
The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 185 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:18 UTC.
Event by event
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Iowa, August 3 to 4, 2004
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Wisconsin, August 3, 2004
- Hurricane and Flash Flooding in North Carolina, August 3, 2004
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 3, 2004
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, August 3, 2004
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 3, 2004
- Damaging Wind in Minnesota, August 3, 2004
- Damaging Winds and Lightning Strike in Iowa, August 3, 2004
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, August 3, 2004
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, August 3, 2004
- Lightning Strike in Maine, August 3, 2004
- Damaging Wind in New York, August 3, 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: 5432278.