Gradient winds in the wake of a strong cold front produced a period of strong wind during the morning hours. The strong wind slowly diminished during the afternoon.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 GGW wrote it up.
Gradient winds in the wake of a strong cold front produced a period of strong wind during the morning hours. The strong wind slowly diminished during the afternoon. Sustained wind speeds of 30 to 40 mph were common. King Coulee Raws in southwest Valley county and Zortman Mine Raws in southwest Phillips county both reported a peak wind gust of 58 mph.
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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 7, 2:50 AM MST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 350 AM MDT MON JUN 7 2004 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA... A TALE OF TWO LOWS FOR THE SHORT TERM. UPPER LOW OVER WEST BEGINNING TO SPLIT. MAIN PORTION CURRENTLY OVER SOUTHERN ALBERTA...STACKED WITH SURFACE LOW. THIS LOW WILL MOVE SLOWLY EAST TODAY WHILE SECOND LOW DIGS FROM PACIFIC NORTHWEST COAST INTO NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. BY TUESDAY NEGATIVELY TILTED RIDGE SETS UP OVER EASTERN MONTANA BETWEEN THESE TWO LOWS. TODAY...COLD FRONT OVER SOUTHERN CANADA NUDGES SOUTHWARD JUST INTO MONTANA WITH THE LOW PULLING EAST. EXTENSIVE CLOUD/PRECIP SHIELD OVER SOUTHERN ALBERTA BUT MAIN FORECAST ISSUE IS HOW FAR SOUTH THIS WILL MOVE. EXPECT IT TO STAY ALONG THE HILINE WITH THE EASTWARD STRETCHING OF THE JET. GOOD GRADIENT AND LAPSE RATE AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND WITH H850 WINDS OF 30-40KTS WILL KEEP LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY. TONIGHT...HIGH PRESSURE FOLLOWS THE FRONT WITH WINDS WEAKENING QUICKLY AFTER SUNSET. RIDGE BETWEEN THE SYSTEMS BEGINS DEVELOPING SO SHOULD SEE AN END TO MOST OF THE CHANCES OF RAIN. TUESDAY...UPPER LOW CONTINUES STRENGTHENING OVER NORTHERN CALIFORNIA PUMPING MOISTURE AND WARM AIR NORTH TOWARD MONTANA. NEGATIVE TILTED RIDGE AXIS ACROSS MONTANA WILL KEEP MOST OF THE WARM MOIST AIR SOUTH OF THE CWA. THUS MORE STABLE AIRMASS WILL KEEP CHANCES OF RAIN TO A MINIMUM. EXCEPTION WILL BE EXTREME SOUTHWEST CWA WHERE MOUNTAIN CONVECTION HAS A CHANCE OF MAINTAINING ITSELF IF IT MOVES INTO THE PLAINS. TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY...LITTLE CHANGE IN THE PATTERN FROM TUESDAY EXCEPT THAT UPPER LOW MOVES A LITTLE FURTHER EAST BY WEDNESDAY. SURFACE LOW AND LEE TROF STRENGTHENING WITH CORRESPONDING INCREASE IN SOUTHEAST WINDS. RIDGE AXIS BEGINS LIFTING ACROSS MONTANA WITH WARM MOIST AIR INTRUDING FURTHER INTO THE STATE. BEST CHANCE OF PRECIP WILL BE ON THE SOUTH AND WEST EDGES OF THE CWA CLOSER TO THE LEE TROF. EBERT .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THRU MONDAY... A VERY WET PATTERN SHAPING UP AND THE MODELS HAVE BEEN IN GOOD AGREEMENT RUN TO RUN AND WITH EACH OTHER ON THIS. THE CLOSED UPPER LOW OVER THE SW STATES BECOMES A TROUGH AND MOVES INTO MONTANA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THIS IS FAIRLY SLOW MOVING...AND IS USUALLY AN EXCELLENT PATTERN FOR FREQUENT SHOWERS AND A PERIOD OF STEADY RAINFALL. CLIMATE-WISE...JUNE IS THE WETTEST MONTH OF THE YEAR AND THIS TYPE OF PATTERN USUALLY DOES OCCUR A COUPLE TIMES...OFTEN IN JUNE. HAVE RAISED POPS MOST PERIODS THURSDAY THRU SATURDAY...ESPECIALLY NORTH. WITH APPROACH OF THE THE FIRST SHORTWAVE FROM THE SOUTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY...THE AIRMASS WILL BE UNSTABLE ENOUGH TO BEGIN AS SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...THEN PROBABLY SETTLED INTO A MORE WIDESPREAD STEADY RAIN ACROSS THE NORTH LATER THURSDAY AND INTO FRIDAY WITH A WELL DEVELOPED SURFACE LOW MOVING NE THRU THE AREA AS WELL. ONE LARGE CONCERN THOUGH IS THAT A DRY SLOT FROM THE SOUTH WILL AFFECT THE SOUTHERN HALF OF OUR CWA...REDUCING POPS AND MOST MODELS INDICATE SUCH FOR AT LEAST PART OF THURSDAY AND AND INTO FRIDAY. FEEL THIS WILL NOT AFFECT OUR NORTH MUCH. APPEARS NOW NOT A LOT OF TROPICAL MOISTURE TO TAP INTO...SOME ARRIVING IS A POSSIBILITY...WHICH NORMALLY WOULD BE THE CASE IN THIS PATTERN. THE GFS IS COOLER THAN LAST NIGHT FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...WHICH IS EXPECTED...AND WITH A LOT OF CLOUDCOVER AND PRECIP...USUALLY PAYS TO GO BELOW MEX THIS TIME OF YEAR. MODELS STILL LOOKS QUITE CHILLY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY TOO...WITH THICKNESSES AROUND 550 DM. THE UPPER LOW GRADUALLY FILLS AND MEANDERS...TAKING ITS TIME TO MOVE OUT OF THE AREA...DETAILS OF SUCH UNCERTAIN. OVERALL HAVE SLOWED WARM-UP AND COOLED MOST HIGHS THRU THE PERIOD...NOT MUCH CHANGE TO LOWS THOUGH. SIMONSEN && .GGW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR FORT PECK LAKE MONDAY. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 602 AM MDT MON JUN 7 2004 MTZ016>027-059>062-081200- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY-DANIELS- DAWSON-EASTERN ROOSEVELT-GARFIELD-MCCONE-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- NORTHERN VALLEY-PETROLEUM-PRAIRIE-RICHLAND-SHERIDAN- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-WIBAUX- 602 AM MDT MON JUN 7 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA .DAY ONE... A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR FORT PECK LAKE TODAY. REFER TO GTFNPWGGW OR WWUS75 KGGW FOR MORE DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... 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.
4 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, June 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: 5418462, 5418463, 5418464, 5418465.