Hail and Damaging Winds in Montana, July 13, 2005

A severe bow echo raced from west to east across Roosevelt County and caused extensive damage from Poplar to Culbertson between 8 and 9 pm. The National Weather Service performed a storm survey of the damage the following day. As the storm moved through Poplar two hangers were blown off at the airport. As the storm proceeded east through Brockton 9 cars of a freight train were blown off the tracks approximately 1 mile east of town. The wind was estimated at 113 mph based off of the Fujita damage scale. There was significant damage to the grain elevator in Brockton which lost the top several feet of the structure, and was slightly shifted off of its base. The entire elevator will be rebuilt. At least 25 homes and businesses in Brockton suffered roof and siding damage. At least 9 large grain bins north of town were blown across the highway and destroyed. Nearly every tree that were over 25 feet tall between Poplar and Brockton was damaged, and all homes had some sort of damage, mainly to roofing shingles. Some intermittent crop damage was observed. A grain bin was blown into the grain elevator in Sprole. Several homes in the Fort Kipp and Brockton area had significant roof damage, with it the plywood being blown off. Many other homes had shingle damage. As the storm continued east into the town of Culbertson it produced significant damage throughout the town. Nearly every tree in town had either significant damage or was destroyed, including many trees that had been in town since it was established. There were many homes with shingle damage or siding peeled off. One home had an entire roof loss and the garage was destroyed. 65 to 70 percent of the roads were blocked with debris after the storm passed. At the school in town the scoreboard and public address systems were destoyed, and the fence was completely flattened. As the storm moved through the town of Froid there was significant tree damage and some grain bins were blown over. There was significant crop damage with crops blown down. The grain elevator in Froid had some metal siding peeled off, and it also shifted slightly. There was a 107 mph measured wind gust 6 miles to the east-northeast of Froid. It is estimated that this storm caused between 4 and 5 million dollars of damage across Roosevelt County.