Showers with isolated thunderstorms developed over portions of northeast Montana this evening above a very dry layer of air. One of these showers collapsed southeast of Glasgow and combined with a southeast gradient wind to produce severe winds up to 59 mph.
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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.
Showers with isolated thunderstorms developed over portions of northeast Montana this evening above a very dry layer of air. One of these showers collapsed southeast of Glasgow and combined with a southeast gradient wind to produce severe winds up to 59 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 Apr 29, 8:44 PM MST, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 944 PM MDT TUE APR 29 2008 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY... GOING FORECAST IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE. RADAR CURRENTLY SHOWING A SMALL AREA OF SHOWERS MOVING NORTHEAST OVER EASTERN GARFIELD COUNTY WITH A BETTER COVERAGE OF SHOWERS TO OUR WEST. THESE SHOWERS ARE WELL FORECASTED TO MOVE INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY MORNING. GUSTY WIND THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORMS SEEMS TO BE CONFINED TO THE SW ZONES LATE THIS EVENING...AS SEEN IN THE GUST TO 42 KTS AT LEWISTOWN. THEREFORE REMOVED THE MENTION IN THE WEATHER GRIDS AND INCREASED THE WIND GRIDS ACCORDINGLY. REST OF FORECAST LOOKED TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE. JAMBA PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... UPPER RIDGE OVER EASTERN MONTANA WILL MOVE TO THE EAST TONIGHT AS UPPER LOW MOVES THROUGH THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. LEE TROF ACROSS CENTRAL MONTANA PROVIDING FOCUS FOR SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IN CENTRAL MONTANA. WINDS HAVE BEEN SLOW TO INCREASE ACROSS THE PLAINS BUT HAVE STARTED GUSTING STRONGER IN RECENT HOURS. WITH POTENTIAL FOR ERRATIC GUSTY WINDS WITH SHOWERS CROSSING THE LAKE THIS EVENING WILL CONTINUE LAKE WIND ADVISORY. ALSO EXPECTING STRONGER WINDS LATER TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY WITH COLD FRONT CROSSING THE STATE. EVEN THOUGH WINDS HAVE NOT BEEN AS STRONG AS EXPECTED...RELATIVE HUMIDITIES HAVE DROPPED INTO THE LOW TEENS...AND WITH VERY DRY FUEL CONDITIONS...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING. COLD FRONT TRACKS ACROSS CWA LATE TONIGHT WITH GOOD MOISTURE ADVECTION BEHIND THE FRONT. BEST CHANCE OF PRECIP APPEARS TO BE WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH THE 700MB FRONT. UPPER LOW THEN MOVES INTO WESTERN MONTANA DURING THE DAY AND STARTS SPLITTING AT THE SAME TIME THE SURFACE LOW IS FORECASTED TO SPLIT AS IT EXITS MONTANA. THE NORTHERN LOW SETTLES INTO SW SASKATCHEWAN AND SE ALBERTA WHILE THE SOUTHERN LOW ENDS UP IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE MAIN EFFECT ON EASTERN MONTANA IS A DRY SLOT THAT WILL REDUCE BUT NOT ELIMINATE THE CHANCE OF RAIN WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. NORTHERN LOW RETROGRADES TOWARD BC WITH MINIMAL IMPACT ON NORTHEAST MONTANA. THE SOUTHERN LOW LINGERS IN THE VICINITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA...PUSHING MOISTURE BACK TOWARD SOUTHEAST MONTANA. IF THE LOW IS FAR ENOUGH WEST COULD SEE PRECIP INTO MORE THAN JUST THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST CORNER OF CWA ON THURSDAY. EBERT .LONG TERM...THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... NEBRASKA STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE LIFTING NORTHEAST TOWARDS THE GREAT LAKES REGION TO BEGIN THE EXTENDED PERIOD. MODELS ARE STILL EVOLVING CONCERNING ITS TRACK. HOWEVER A SURFACE HIGH WILL SLIDE SOUTH FROM SASKATCHEWAN IN BEHIND THE SYSTEM CUTTING OFF THE MOST OR ALL PRECIPITATION SOMETIME THURSDAY NIGHT. OVERNIGHT CHANCE POPS STILL LOOK ON TRACK. SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR FRIDAY ARE BEGINNING TO LOOK IFFY...BUT WILL LET THEM RIDE FOR NOW...WAITING FOR BETTER MODEL AGREEMENT. QUIET WX COULD BE INTERRUPTED AROUND SATURDAY NIGHT AS THE CANADIAN UPPER LOW RETROGRADES...PRODUCING A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT...AFFECTING MAINLY THE EASTERN ZONES. BY SUNDAY THE MODELS DEVELOP A SPLIT TROUGH OVER THE WESTERN STATES...SENDING SECONDARY ENERGY INTO THE SOUTHWEST. THE 12Z GFS AND ECMWF DEVELOP A STRONGER TROUGH OVER THE INTER-MOUNTAIN WEST BEFORE DROPPING INTO THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. MOST PRECIPITATION WILL REMAIN SOUTH OR WEST OF THE LOCAL CWA THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE EXTENDED. FEW GRID EDITS OTHER THAN FOR INTEROFFICE COORDINATION PURPOSES. SCT PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... COMPLEX UPPER LOW SYSTEM...PRESENTLY EXITING THE GULF OF ALASKA...WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR PRECIPITATION CHANCES PRIMARILY AT THE START OF THIS PERIOD. VARIOUS NWP OUTPUT AGREE IN TRENDING A 130KT UPPER JET STREAK INTO THE BASE OF THIS SYSTEM BY MIDWEEK RESULTING IN A SECONDARY UPPER VORTEX CLOSING OFF NEAR THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE THURSDAY NIGHT. WHILE THIS LOW/S POSITION BY ITSELF WOULD TYPICALLY BE TOO FAR SOUTH FOR PRECIP IN OUR AREA...THE UPPER TROF AXIS WILL EXTEND NORTHWEST TO THE INITIAL/FILLING LOW OVER LOWER ALBERTA. THIS STRUCTURE STILL WARRANTS CHANCE POPS AREA WIDE WITH POTENTIAL FOR HIGHER QPF OVER THE SOUTHEAST ZONES CLOSE TO A CORRIDOR OF STRONG FORCING. DESPITE TYPICAL DPROG/DT DIFFERENCES...MODELS AGREE IN ENOUGH DYNAMIC COOLING TO SUPPORT SNOW THURSDAY NIGHT BEFORE THE STACKED LOW DRUDGES EAST FRIDAY AFTERNOON TAKING ANY LINGERING PRECIP WITH IT. UPPER FLOW BECOMES INCREASINGLY MORE COMPLEX/UNCERTAIN THEREAFTER THANKS TO A BLOCKING RIDGE NEAR NEWFOUNDLAND. THIS RIDGE EFFECTIVELY FORCES A DEEP UPPER VORTEX NEAR JAMES BAY TO RETROGRADE OVER MANITOBA THRU THE WEEKEND ALL THE WHILE PHASING WITH THE PLAINS LOW. THIS ACTION COMBINED WITH OVERALL POSITIVE HEIGHT ANOMALIES ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST SHOULD RESULT IN A SLIGHTLY UNSETTLED NORTHWEST FLOW INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...HOWEVER ENSEMBLES ARE AT ODDS WITH EMBEDDED WAVES. FOR NOW HAVE RELEGATED SLIGHT CHANCE POPS TO SUN/MON WITHIN THIS MOIST FLOW...THOUGH THIS WILL CERTAINLY REQUIRE FINE TUNING AS GREATER DETAILS EMERGE. MCZ && .AVIATION... VFR INITIALLY. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY GUSTY/ERRATIC WINDS ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY WEST OF GGW LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. SHOWERS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND SPREAD EAST LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. A CANADIAN SURFACE LOW WILL DEVELOP EASTERLY WINDS OF 10KT TO 20 KT TONIGHT. AS THE FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE AREA LATE TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY THE WINDS WILL SHIFT AROUND TO THE NORTHWEST. SCT && .FIRE WEATHER... AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL CAUSE SOUTHEAST WINDS TO PICK UP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THESE WINDS WILL COINCIDE WITH HUMIDITY IN THE LOWER TEENS ACROSS THE WHOLE OF NORTHEAST MONTANA...CREATING CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS. IN ADDITION...DRY THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE CENTRAL MONTANA MOUNTAINS DURING THE AFTERNOON...WILL DRIFT TO THE NORTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA. THE COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH TONIGHT... BREAKING DOWN THE RIDGE AND USHERING IN MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES FOR WEDNESDAY. A RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ZONES 119 THROUGH 122 FROM NOON TODAY THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. FORRESTER/RAE && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... RED FLAG WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT FOR MTZ119-MTZ120- MTZ121-MTZ122. LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 6 PM MDT WEDNESDAY FOR FORT PECK LAKE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 1019 PM MDT TUE APR 29 2008 MTZ016-018>021-024>027-059>062-301430- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT- PETROLEUM-RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 1019 PM MDT TUE APR 29 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. MTZ017-022-023-301430- CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY-GARFIELD-MCCONE- 1019 PM MDT TUE APR 29 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A LAKE WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR FORT PECK LAKE UNTIL 6 PM WEDNESDAY. EAST WINDS BETWEEN 15 AND 25 MPH TONIGHT WILL TURN NORTHWEST WEDNESDAY MORNING BEHIND A COLD FRONT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR FORT PECK LAKE UNTIL 6 PM WEDNESDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL USHER IN GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH STARTING WEDNESDAY MORNING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 2 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:16 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
This report was taken from the Glasgow ASOS. Some windows were broken by the small gravel that was blown into them like pellets and a metal awning was reported blown over.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, April 2008
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: 86691.