Northwest flow aloft combined with daytime instability to generate scattered strong thunderstorms. A few of these pulse-type storms became severe producing hail and one elderly man suffered minor injuries from a nearby lightning strike.
Every event with a place to put it. 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.
Northwest flow aloft combined with daytime instability to generate scattered strong thunderstorms. A few of these pulse-type storms became severe producing hail and one elderly man suffered minor injuries from a nearby lightning strike.
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 13, 8:48 AM MST, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 948 AM MDT FRI JUN 13 2008 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY... UPDATE...NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL HOLD THROUGH THE DAY. THERE IS A NOTICEABLE BREAK IN THE CLOUDS ACROSS THE CENTRAL PART OF THE CWA...THUS UPDATED TO DECREASE CLOUD COVER THERE. ALSO SPREAD MENTION OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST ZONES AS THERE LOOKS TO BE ENOUGH INSTABILITY TO WARRANT A MENTION. OTHERWISE GOING FORECAST LOOKS GOOD. GILCHRIST PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...THE DEEP CLOSED LOW THAT HAS AFFECTED THE REGION THE PAST FEW DAYS WILL BEGIN TO LIFT TOWARD THE HUDSON BAY REGION TODAY. IN ITS WAKE WILL BE CYCLONIC NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. WEAK IMPULSES WILL ROTATE THROUGH THE PRIMARY STEERING FLOW AND COMBINE WITH MODEST INSTABILITY TO PRODUCE A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...PRIMARILY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST ZONES. 850MB TEMPERATURES WILL WARM ABOUT 10C TODAY ALLOWING MAXIMUM SURFACE TEMPERATURES TO GAIN AS MUCH AS 20F OVER YESTERDAYS VALUES. 850MB WINDS WILL BE ON THE ORDER OF 25-30KT PRODUCING ANOTHER WINDY DAY. THEREFORE WILL MAINTAIN THE LAKE WIND ADVISORY THROUGH ITS CURRENT EXPIRATION TIME OF 9PM FRIDAY. NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE INTO THIS WEEKEND. HOWEVER...MODELS ARE STRUGGLING WITH TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF FEATURES. FIRST FEATURE OF INTEREST IS A SHORTWAVE TRACKING FROM SOUTHWESTERN SASKATCHEWAN TO WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WHICH PUSHES A WEAK COLD FRONT THROUGH THE AREA. GFS IS NOW QUICKER WITH THIS WAVE THAN PREVIOUS RUNS AND THE FEATURE IS NEARLY NONEXISTENT IN THE NAM. THE SECOND FEATURE OF INTEREST IS AN UPPER LOW THAT MEANDERS ITS WAY INTO CENTRAL ALBERTA SUNDAY...AT LEAST ACCORDING TO GFS...ECMWF...UKMET...AND CANADIAN. HOWEVER...THE NAM IS MUCH FURTHER SOUTH WITH THE FEATURE OVER CENTRAL MONTANA. THE NAM APPEARS TO BE AN OUTLIER AT THIS TIME AND FORECAST GRIDS REFLECT THE DRIER MILDER SOLUTIONS. THIS RESULTS IN TEMPERATURES ACTUALLY APPROACHING SEASONAL AVERAGES. AJZ .LONG TERM...SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY... MODELS HAVE GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE UPPER RIDGE ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY THEN THEY START DIFFERING IN THEIR SOLUTIONS STARTING ON WEDNESDAY. THE UPPER RIDGE WILL BRING A MUCH NEEDED PERIOD OF WARMER AND DRIER WEATHER TO NORTHEAST MONTANA WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR NORMAL ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. THEN...SHORTWAVES WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA THE REST OF THE PERIOD. WHILE ALL OF THE MODELS STILL HAVE AN UPPER LOW OFF TO THE WEST...THEY NOW HAVE IT FURTHER TO THE WEST IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC. THE GFS AND CANADIAN STILL FAVOR SW FLOW ALOFT FROM WED AND BEYOND WHILE THE ECMWF HAS TURNED MORE ZONAL IN ITS FORECAST OF FLOW ALOFT. EITHER WAY...IT IS LOOKING LIKE THERE WILL BE CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STARTING WEDNESDAY. WILL FAVOR THE WARMER GFS AT THIS TIME IN THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST. FORRESTER && .AVIATION... EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS TODAY WITH STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 30 KNOTS. LOOK FOR CUMULUS CLOUDS WITH BASES OF 5000 TO 7000 FEET TO DEVELOP WITH DAYTIME HEATING LATE THIS MORNING AND SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS TO AFFECT THE TAF SITES THIS AFTERNOON. LOOK FOR SKIES TO CLEAR TONIGHT WITH WINDS DIMINISHING. PATCHY FOG IS POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT WHICH MAY BRING PERIODS OF IFR CONDITIONS. && .HYDROLOGY... RECENT HEAVY RAINS ACROSS THE HIGHLINE WILL CAUSE DRAMATIC RISES IN THE MILK RIVER IN VALLEY COUNTY OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. MOST AREAS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW FLOOD STAGE...HOWEVER THE MILK RIVER NEAR GLASGOW IS FORECAST TO RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE BY LATE SATURDAY EVENING. A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT. PLEASE SEE GTFFFAGGW FOR DETAILS. GILCHRIST && .CLIMATE... IT HAS BEEN A COLD AND WET START TO JUNE. THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR THE FIRST 12 DAYS WAS 54.3 DEGREES WHICH IS THE SECOND COLDEST START. ONLY 1901 STARTED COLDER AVERAGING 53.8 DEGREES. PRECIPITATION IS AT 2.76 INCHES SO FAR MAKING THIS THE 6TH WETTEST START TO JUNE. FORRESTER && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY. FLOOD WATCH FROM SATURDAY EVENING THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY. LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR FORT PECK LAKE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 409 AM MDT FRI JUN 13 2008 MTZ017-022-023-141000- CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY-GARFIELD-MCCONE- 409 AM MDT FRI JUN 13 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A LAKE WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR FORT PECK LAKE THROUGH 9 PM THIS EVENING. A WEST WIND OF 10 TO 20 MPH WILL INCREASE TO 15 TO 25 MPH...WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH...THIS MORNING. THE WIND IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH TO AROUND 10 MPH BY SUNSET. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE MILK RIVER IN VALLEY COUNTY BETWEEN SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND TUESDAY AFTERNOON. MINOR FLOODING IS FORECASTED ON THE MILK RIVER AT GLASGOW BETWEEN SATURDAY EVENING AND MONDAY AFTERNOON. THE MILK RIVER AT TAMPICO IS FORECASTED TO CREST NEAR FLOOD STAGE SATURDAY AFTERNOON. THE MILK RIVER AT NASHUA IS EXPECTED TO CREST NEAR FLOOD STAGE ON MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:30 UTC.
2 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A 70 year old man raking the yard suffered minor injuries from a nearby lightning strike. He received treatment at the hospital before being released several hours later.
Hail grew from pea to quarter size.
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, June 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: 99153, 98938, 98937.