Damaging Wind in Montana, August 6, 2004

Name: Damaging Wind in Montana, August 6, 2004
Start: 2004-08-06T22:50
End: 2004-08-06T22:50
Location: Montana

August 6, 2004 · NWS TFX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 60 mph at Heart Butte 9S.

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 happened

The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.

A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 60 mph at Heart Butte 9S.

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 6, 8:09 PM MST, 2 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 6, 8:09 PM MST, 2 hours 41 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MONTANA
909 PM MDT FRI AUG 6 2004

.DISCUSSION...

A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES OVER THE
NORTHEASTERN ZONES THIS EVENING...WITH SCATTERED ACTIVITY OVER THE
REST OF CENTRAL MONTANA. WILL MAKE MINOR CHANGES TO POPS AND CLOUD
COVER BEFORE 06Z BASED ON LATEST RADAR/SATELLITE TRENDS. A VIGOROUS
SHORT WAVE TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED JET STREAK WILL THEN PROPAGATE
EAST INTO WESTERN MONTANA OVERNIGHT. WITH PLENTY OF LIFT
PRESENT...WILL KEEP THE CHANCE POPS GOING OVER THE CENTRAL ZONES
AFTER 06Z. ONLY OTHER CHANGES WERE SOME MINOR TWEAKS TO
TEMPERATURES AND WINDS. SCHAUMANN

.PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...

CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY AGAIN TAKING OFF THIS AFTERNOON. UPPER TROF
CLEARLY DEPICTED ON VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY AS IS SHORT WAVE
EJECTING OUT FROM THE BASE OF THE TROF AND MOVING INTO WESTERN
MONTANA. WEST COAST UPPER TROF MOVES ACROSS NORTHERN MONTANA
SATURDAY WITH COOLER AIR SWEEPING IN BEHIND FRONTAL PASSAGE. WILL
MAINTAIN LOW POPS FOR SATURDAY BUT STRONG WESTERLY WINDS SHOULD
INHIBIT ANY PRECIPITATION OVER THE PLAINS. DRIER NORTHWEST FLOW
ALOFT SETS UP OVER THE AREA SUNDAY AS AN UPPER RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE
PACIFIC NORTHWEST. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN BELOW SEASONAL AVERAGES
THROUGH THE WEEKEND. EMANUEL

MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY...A NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE ALOFT
OVER THE REGION FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD. AS A RESULT...COOL
TEMPERATURES CAN BE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY...WITH
AFTERNOON READINGS AVERAGING BETWEEN 5 AND 10 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL.
HOWEVER...DUE TO FAIRLY DRY AIR IN PLACE BY EARLY NEXT WEEK...EXPECT
DRY CONDITIONS ACROSS THE REGION FOR MUCH OF THE WEEK. EXPECT A
WARMING TREND TO START BACK UP TOWARDS THURSDAY...AS A NEW UPPER
LEVEL RIDGE STARTS TO BUILD OVER MONTANA. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO
APPROACH NORMAL READINGS FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS WELL...AS THE
RIDGE BUILDS IN. BRUSDA

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GTF BB 052/073 046/074 048 05420
    UUUUU 075/049 076/053 081/053 084/054 084 00000000000
CTB BB 049/071 045/069 045 05430
    UUUUU 073/050 075/050 079/051 080/052 081 00000000000
HLN BB 056/076 050/078 051 0542-
    UUUUU 078/054 081/056 084/057 087/058 087 00000000000
BZN BB 050/077 045/076 044 05320
    UUUUU 077/048 078/052 081/052 085/053 085 00000000000
WEY BB 040/068 037/067 036 052-1
    UUUUU 066/041 067/044 070/044 073/046 073 00000000000
DLN UU 049/077 047/075 046 05310
    UUUUU 077/050 079/051 081/051 085/052 084 00000000000
HVR BB 056/074 048/072 047 05530
    UUUUU 074/049 077/053 083/054 086/055 087 00000000000
LWT BB 054/076 046/071 045 05420
    UUUUU 073/047 075/050 077/051 080/053 081 00000000000

&&

.TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NONE.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 6, 4:30 AM MST, 18 hours 20 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
530 AM MDT FRI AUG 6 2004

MTZ009>014-044>051-054-071130-
BLAINE-CASCADE-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-CHOUTEAU-
EASTERN GLACIER-EASTERN PONDERA-EASTERN TETON-FERGUS-HILL-
JUDITH BASIN-LIBERTY-MEAGHER-NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-
SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-TOOLE-
530 AM MDT FRI AUG 6 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND A PORTION OF
SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER WESTERN AND
SOUTHWEST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON...AND WILL SPREAD ACROSS NORTH
CENTRAL MONTANA DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. SOME OF
THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WIND
GUSTS THE PRIMARY THREATS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA ON
SATURDAY. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF
THE FRONT...WITH COOLER AND BREEZY CONDITIONS PREVAILING BEHIND THE
FRONT. TEMPERATURES IN THE MOUNTAINS MAY DROP AS LOW AS THE MID TO
UPPER 30S SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

MTZ008-015-052-053-055-071130-
BEAVERHEAD-BROADWATER-GALLATIN-JEFFERSON-MADISON-
530 AM MDT FRI AUG 6 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH SOUTHWEST MONTANA ON SATURDAY.
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE
FRONT...WITH COOLER AND BREEZY CONDITIONS PREVAILING BEHIND THE
FRONT. TEMPERATURES IN THE MOUNTAINS MAY DROP AS LOW AS THE MID TO
UPPER 30S SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY NIGHT.

.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 6, 5:56 PM MST, 4 hours 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
656 PM MDT FRI AUG 06 2004

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

0655 PM     HAIL             10 NW WINIFRED          47.66N 109.53W
08/06/2004  0.75 INCH        FERGUS             MT   PUBLIC

&&

JSS

Local storm report, Aug 6, 6:22 PM MST, 4 hours 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
722 PM MDT FRI AUG 06 2004

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

0705 PM     TSTM WND GST     37 S LLOYD              47.75N 109.36W
08/06/2004  60 MPH           BLAINE             MT   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

JSS

Local storm report, Aug 6, 7:00 PM MST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
800 PM MDT FRI AUG 06 2004

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

0754 PM     TSTM WND GST     HAVRE                   48.54N 109.68W
08/06/2004  63 MPH           HILL               MT   OFFICIAL NWS OBS

&&

JSS

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:49 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pondera

When: August 6, 10:50 PM MST
Where: Pondera County, 9 mi S of Heart Butte
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) measured gust
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 48.150, -112.833

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

Every storm in Montana in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5419850.