Hail in Montana, July 27, 2004

Name: Hail in Montana, July 27, 2004
Start: 2004-07-27T19:45
End: 2004-07-27T20:45
Location: Montana

July 27, 2004 · NWS BYZ · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

3 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 27, 1:24 PM MST, 6 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 1:24 PM MST, 6 hours 21 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
224 PM MDT TUE JUL 27 2004

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR WED AND THU...

COOL SUMMER DAY BEHIND THE FRONT THAT MOVED THROUGH THIS MORNING
WITH ISOLATED CONVECTION POPPING OVER SHERIDAN COUNTY. STRONG
UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER EASTERN SASKATCHEWAN WITH A SHORTWAVE MOVING
INTO NORTHWEST MONTANA PROGGED TO ROTATE IN NORTHWEST FLOW ACROSS
SOUTHERN MONTANA AND INTO WYOMING OVERNIGHT. DESPITE THE COOL
SURFACE TEMPERATURES...AIRMASS STAYS UNSTABLE OVERNIGHT AND WITH
UPSLOPE EXPECTED TO INCREASE AS ANOTHER SURGE OF COOLER AIR MOVES
INTO MONTANA INGREDIENTS ARE PRESENT FOR A DECENT CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION. EXPECT THE TRADITIONAL UPSLOPE AREAS OF THE
BEARTOOTHS/ABSAROKAS...PRYORS AND BIG HORNS TO SEE THE BEST CHANCE
AND HAVE UPPED POPS TO LIKELYS FOR TONIGHT FOR THOSE AREAS. COOL
AND CLOUDY DAY FOR WEDNESDAY WITH PRECIP DECREASING BUT
TEMPERATURES WILL BE AT LEAST 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. UPPER LEVEL
LOW MOVES JUST A LITTLE SOUTH AND EAST DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS
AND THIS KEEPS THE COOL NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE AREA INTO
THURSDAY. LIFT AND INSTABILITY IS WEAKENING WITH TIME SO SHOWER
ACTIVITY WILL BE LESSENED BUT WILL STILL SEE A FEW AROUND.
THURSDAY SHOULD SEE A BIT MORE SUN WITH TEMPERATURES SLOW TO
REBOUND. BORSUM

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR FRI...SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...

NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT BEGINS TO TRANSITION INTO A MORE WESTERLY FLOW ON
FRIDAY AS DRY UPPER RIDGING BUILDS IN OVER THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL
RESULT IN MUCH WARMER TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AND HAVE BUMPED
HIGHS UP A COUPLE OF DEGREES FOR THOSE DAYS. HOW LONG THE RIDGE WILL
HOLD OUT CONTINUES TO BE A QUESTION IN THE FORECAST AS THE MODELS ARE
STRUGGLING WITH THE TRACK OF AN UPPER TROUGH MOVING INTO THE WESTERN
UNITED STATES EARLY IN THE WEEK. LATEST GFS SLOWER THAN PREVIOUS
RUNS...WHICH IS A TREND OFTEN SEEN IN THE GFS WHEN RIDGING SETS UP
OVER THE AREA. DESPITE THE SLOWER SOLUTION...IT STILL APPEARS THAT
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL RETURN OVER THE AREA BY THE END OF THE
EXTENDED. THIS WOULD RESULT IN THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL DURING THE END
OF THE EXTENDED BUT WITH LOW CONFIDENCE IN THE TIMING OF THE TROUGH
MOVING EASTWARD WILL CONTINUE TO LEAVE DRY FORECAST FOR NOW. MACZKO

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 052/071 052/076 053/083 056/091 062/091 060/094 060/093
    52/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
LVM 047/071 045/076 049/081 054/089 052/091 056/089 056/090
    63/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
HDN 054/072 054/077 055/083 057/091 060/094 061/092 061/094
    42/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
MLS 054/072 053/077 053/083 055/090 062/092 066/095 066/092
    32/T    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
4BQ 054/072 055/077 052/081 056/088 060/092 064/094 064/091
    33/T    20/B    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
BHK 054/072 049/074 047/079 053/087 060/090 064/092 064/091
    33/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
SHR 056/068 052/076 049/080 052/092 056/092 060/095 060/092
    64/T    22/T    20/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

&&

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Wheatland

When: July 27, 7:45 PM MST
Where: Wheatland County, Hedgesville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 46.450, -109.500

Hail, Yellowstone

When: July 27, 8:10 PM MST
Where: Yellowstone County, 3 mi W of Laurel
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.683, -108.833

Hail, Big Horn

When: July 27, 8:45 PM MST
Where: Big Horn County, 3 mi NW of Pryor
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 45.467, -108.583

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

Every storm in Montana in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, July 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: 5412279, 5412280, 5412281.