An upper level disturbance that was moving from southwest to northeast, brought severe thunderstorms to northeast Montana.
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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.
An upper level disturbance that was moving from southwest to northeast, brought severe thunderstorms to northeast Montana.
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 Jul 6, 1:56 PM MST, 4 hours 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 256 PM MDT MON JUL 6 2009 .SHORT TERM...FOR NORTHEAST MONTANA...TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY... POTENT SHORTWAVE AND COLD FRONT PUSHING INTO WESTERN MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON WITH THUNDERSTORMS ALREADY DEVELOPING ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH CENTRAL AND EASTERN MONTANA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH THUNDERSTORMS POTENTIALLY DEVELOPING INTO A SEVERE SQUALL LINE. WINDS EXPECTED TO INCREASE FROM THE EAST AHEAD OF THE FRONT...THEN TURN WEST WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. WILL CONTINUE LAKE WIND ADVISORY THROUGH THE EVENING BEFORE WINDS DIMINISH LATE TONIGHT. FRONT MOVES INTO NORTH DAKOTA BY MORNING AS UPPER LOW PUSHES INTO WESTERN CANADA. CYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING A FEW MORE SHORTWAVES ACROSS MONTANA...WHERE LINGERING MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE THE THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. EBERT .LONG TERM...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY... A VIGOROUS JET STREAK RACES OVER NORTHEAST MONTANA WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS SHOULD GENERATE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA...SOME OF WHICH COULD BE SEVERE IN THE EVENING. THE UPPER FLOW FLATTENS IN THE WAKE OF THE ASSOCIATED SHORTWAVE TROUGH THURSDAY. HOWEVER...WEAK IMPULSES PROPAGATE THROUGH THE STEERING FLOW BRINING PERIODIC CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. MEANWHILE...A SHORTWAVE TROUGH ROTATES SOUTHEASTWARD FROM THE WESTERN CANADIAN ARCTIC TO SOUTH CENTRAL CANADA BY FRIDAY. THE NET RESULT WILL BE MILD DAYS...COOL NIGHTS...AND DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. A PACIFIC TROUGH SLOWLY DRIFTS INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST EARLY NEXT WEEK BRINING ANOTHER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS. MEDIUM RANGE MODEL GUIDANCE DEMONSTRATES HIGHER THAN AVERAGE CONFIDENCE THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD WITH THE ECMWF FAVORED BY THE PMDEPD ISSUED BY HPC. VERY FEW CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE INHERITED FORECAST AS IT HANDLES THE EXPECTED SCENARIO WELL. AJZ PREVIOUS LONG TERM DISCUSSION... UPPER TROUGH MOVES THROUGH EASTERN MONTANA WEDNESDAY NIGHT WITH A GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY IN THE EVENING. THE PATTERN BECOMES NEARLY ZONAL ON THURSDAY WITH WEAK WEAK SHORTWAVE IN THE FLOW ORIGINATED FROM A 500MB LOW SITTING OFF SHORE OF WA/OR. THIS PATTERN LASTS THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT WITH SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AT TIMES. BY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY...RIDGING DEVELOPS WITH DRIER PATTERN SETTLING IN FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. LATE IN THE WEEKEND...BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF BRING THE UPPER LOW OFF THE WA/OR COAST INLAND. THIS COULD BRING A CHANCE OF PRECIP INTO THE FORECAST AREA NEXT MONDAY. && .AVIATION... CONDITIONS WILL RAPIDLY DETERIORATE THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT AS THUNDERSTORMS RACE ACROSS THE REGION. ANY THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE STRONG WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50KT...LARGE HAIL...AND HEAVY RAIN. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE TIME...BUT MVFR CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THUNDERSTORMS WITH TEMPORARY IFR CONDITIONS IN HEAVY RAIN. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR A PERIOD OF MVFR STRATUS BEHIND THE THUNDERSTORMS EARLY TOMORROW MORNING BEFORE CONDITIONS RAPIDLY IMPROVE AFTER 12Z. THE OVERALL WIND WILL BE OUT OF THE EAST AT 10 TO 20KT...20 TO 25KT AT KGGW...BEFORE SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST AROUND 10KT TUESDAY MORNING. AJZ && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR FORT PECK LAKE. && WEATHER.GOV/GLASGOW
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 334 AM MDT MON JUL 6 2009 MTZ016>027-059>062-070900- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE- RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 334 AM MDT MON JUL 6 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR FORT PECK LAKE FROM 9 AM THIS MORNING UNTIL 10 PM THIS EVENING FOR EAST WINDS 15 TO 30 MPH. THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TONIGHT AS A STRONG COLD FRONT SWEEPS ACROSS NORTHEAST MONTANA. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ANOTHER COLD FRONT MOVING OVER THE AREA WEDNESDAY WILL CREATE A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THAT MAY BECOME SEVERE DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. 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 Glasgow radar (KGGW), 125 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:34 UTC.
16 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
Spotter reported strong winds estimated between 50 and 60 mph that blew flower pots away.
Person estimated winds to be about 60 mph.
Wind damaged a three foot diameter cottonwood tree. Heavy rain mixed with pea-sized hail.
Spotter estimated wind gusts to be about 60 mph.
South Sawmill Creek RAWS measured wind gust.
Luftborough Hill Montana DOT RWIS reported the wind gust.
Spotter estimated strong winds to be between 50 and 60 mph.
Funnel cloud spotted about 15 miles southwest of Wagner.
Spotter estimated the wind gusts to be between 60 and 70 mph.
Spotter estimated winds to be between 60 and 70 mph.
Power was lost due to storms in the area.
Spotter reported heavy rain and wind gusts to near 60 mph.
Strong winds around 60 to 70 mph pushed a car across the road around mile marker 518 on US Highway 2.
National Weather Service employee estimated wind gusts to 60 mph based on the tree branches breaking out of their trees.
Nickel to quarter-size hail. 80 percent damage to crop field. No damage estimate information available from Farm Services Agency (FSA).
Nickel to quarter-size hail. Camper had chipped paint.
A squall line of dissipating storms moved east through the area between 1130 pm and 1230 pm. The outflow caused a microburst. The homeowner reported that the winds hit her home at about 1200 and 1205 am. She was not injured.|A new modular home was slightly lifted and pushed back off its foundation. The house dropping back on the foundation and it caused the I-beams below the house to bend. The house was sitting on a very sturdy foundation, but it did not have any strapping to hold it to the foundation. There were two outbuildings significantly damaged as well.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, July 2009
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: 174202, 174204, 188120, 174205, 174207, 174208, 174203, 174197, 174209, 174210, 174211, 174201, 174212, 174213, 190435, 174214, 174215, 174198, 174199, 174219.