Strong winds toppled numerous trees and caused several power outages from Big Arm to Ronan.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 episode as NWS MSO wrote it up.
Strong winds toppled numerous trees and caused several power outages from Big Arm to Ronan.
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 Jul 14, 1:00 PM MST, 2 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 200 PM MDT WED JUL 14 2004 .SHORT TERM...TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. TONIGHT...A WEAK AND RELATIVELY DRY UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE EMBEDDED IN SOUTHWEST FLOW IS CURRENTLY MOVING OVER THE IDAHO CLEARWATER MOUNTAINS AT 130 PM. THE ATMOSPHERE IS FAIRLY UNSTABLE THEREFORE... ISOLATED HIGH-BASED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED AND THIS AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD INTO SOUTHWEST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY EVENING...WITH CONVECTION DISSIPATING AND SKIES CLEARING FROM WEST TO EAST AS THE DISTURBANCE MOVES OVER. THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...RIDGE TO HOLD THROUGH FRIDAY. MID AND HIGH LEVEL MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL SLOWLY BE MOVING UP FROM THE SOUTH INTO IDAHO AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA BRINGING SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAYTIME HEATING. HOWEVER...MAIN FEATURE WILL BE CONTINUED HOT TEMPERATURES. .LONG TERM...FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MONSOONAL MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE TO STREAM INTO THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST FROM THE FOUR CORNERS HIGH THROUGH SATURDAY. MODELS STILL SHOW SOME MID LEVEL MOISTURE FROM TROPICAL STORM BLAS MOVING INTO THE AREA LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY... FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ON SATURDAY. SUNDAY THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OFF THE PACIFIC COAST BEGINS TO MOVE INLAND. TEMPERATURES ACROSS NORTHWEST MONTANA WILL COOL...BUT MOST OTHER LOCATIONS WILL REMAIN SIMILAR TO SATURDAYS TEMPERATURES. SUNDAY THROUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING THE TROUGH WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY A WESTERLY FLOW DEVELOPS FOR DRY CONDITIONS AND NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES. && .MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...NONE. ID...NONE. && SHORT TERM/MWJ LONG TERM/KOCH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 322 PM MDT (222 PM PDT) WED JUL 14 2004 IDZ009-010-MTZ005>007-043-151200- WESTERN LEMHI COUNTY-EASTERN LEMHI COUNTY- MISSOULA/BITTERROOT VALLEYS-BITTERROOT/SAPPHIRE MOUNTAINS- BUTTE/PINTLAR REGION-BLACKFOOT REGION- 322 PM MDT WED JUL 14 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA .DAY ONE... REST OF TODAY PRECIPITATION FROM HIGH BASED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL FALL INTO VERY DRY LOW LEVELS CREATING THE POTENTIAL FOR STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS. THESE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN EAST CENTRAL IDAHO AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA UNTIL SUNSET. PLEASE MONITOR GTFSVRMSO AND GTFSVSMSO FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, July 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: 5413382.