Tornado and Hail in Montana, July 26, 2010

Name: Tornado and Hail in Montana, July 26, 2010
Start: 2010-07-26T16:30
End: 2010-07-26T19:00
Location: Montana

July 26, 2010 · NWS GGW · 13 events in 2 counties and zones

An upper air disturbance moves east just north of a frontal boundary that helped to trigger severe weather. The severe weather that included one of the strongest tornadoes in Montana history started in far southern Saskatchewan and moved southeast across the area.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 2
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $300,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 13

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS GGW wrote it up.

What forecasters said that day

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 26, 3:28 PM MST, 1 hour 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 3:28 PM MST, 1 hour 2 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 26, 1:59 PM MST, 2 hours 31 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
259 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

MTZ016-017-021>023-271200-
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY-
PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE-
259 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST
MONTANA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT ACROSS FORT PECK LAKE TONIGHT
THROUGH EARLY TUESDAY MORNING FOR NORTHEAST WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH
AND GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT SET TO MOVE
SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

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 radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 100 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

9 hail, 2 funnel cloud, 1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Daniels

When: July 26, 4:30 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, 9 mi N of Peerless
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 48.930, -105.820

Rotating wall cloud also reported.

Hail, Daniels

When: July 26, 4:50 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, 5 mi N of Richland
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 48.892, -106.050

Crop damage was reported with the 1.75 hail.

Hail, Daniels

When: July 26, 4:55 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, 18.5 mi NE of Peerless
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 48.989, -105.532

Public report of golfball size hail.

Funnel Cloud, Daniels

When: July 26, 5:00 PM MST to 5:05 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, 13 mi N of Peerless to 6 mi NNW of Four Buttes
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 48.988, -105.820

A wall cloud had several fingers of scud in the area. The report was never officially confirmed by law enforcement or photographs of the cloud, but given the intense rotation of the storm, a brief funnel cloud could have been possible.

Hail, Daniels

When: July 26, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, 19 mi ENE of Peerless
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 48.905, -105.434

Some crop damage noted with golfball size hail.

Hail, Daniels

When: July 26, 5:00 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, 15 mi NW of Scobey
Measured: 4 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 48.953, -105.653

Very large hail of 3 to 4 inches were reported by the public.

Hail, Daniels

When: July 26, 5:40 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, Flaxville
Measured: 2 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 48.800, -105.170

Hail of golf-ball to hen egg size was reported.

Hail, Daniels

When: July 26, 5:47 PM MST to 5:55 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, Navajo
Measured: 3 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 48.800, -105.070

Large hail covered the ground. A lot of crop damage reported in the area.

Funnel Cloud, Daniels

When: July 26, 5:50 PM MST
Where: Daniels County, Flaxville
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 48.800, -105.170

Spotter witnessed a rotating wall cloud that produced a funnel cloud.

Tornado, Sheridan

When: July 26, 6:00 PM MST to 6:37 PM MST
Where: Sheridan County, 11.12 mi S of Redstone Hill Dot to 7.45 mi WNW of Medicine Lake
Rating: EF3
Path length: 18 mi
Path width: 880 yd
Deaths: 2 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $300,000
Reported by: NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates: 48.660, -105.002

This was the deadliest tornado in Montana since 1923, and only the fourth EF-3 on record. The supercell thunderstorm developed strong rotation, and rotating wall clouds and brief funnel clouds were reported in Daniels County. As the storm moved southeast, it intensified and a large, long-lived tornado formed. The tornado traveled for 18 miles, mostly through rural areas, but it had devastating impacts as it hit a ranch, killing two people and injuring one. On the morning of July 27th, 2010 two teams of NWS Glasgow staff surveyed the damage area. The first team started in Daniels County and followed the track of the storm to the east-southeast. The second team met with county and state officials at the site of the ranch that was most devastated. Both teams spoke to law enforcement officials, as well as weather spotters and the public who had reports of weather and/or damage as well as those who saw the tornado.

The initial damage from the tornado originated about 12 miles south of Redstone. Along the Reserve and Wanso Roads, six miles of power lines were snapped off. Sheridan Electric was able to restore power fairly quickly to the majority of residences by the next morning. Due to the poles being snapped, the tornado was rated an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale in this area. This was the widest portion of the tornado track with a width of a half mile.

The tornado continued east-southeast where it encountered an abandoned farmhouse, a barn and a bridge that went across Wolf Creek on the Three Corners Road. The bridge had the planks ripped off with damage totals coming to $100,000. The farmhouse was blown off of the foundation, had some of the siding stripped off, and roof damage. The barn was completely destroyed, with the west and north facing walls blown away, and the south and east facing walls intact for the most part, but flattened on the ground. Two grain bins were destroyed, with a third still on its foundation but crushed. They appeared to be empty. The damage at this location was rated an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The width of the tornado at this point was a quarter mile wide.

The storm continued on its east-southeast track at a speed of about 30 mph. The Smith Ranch was then impacted. The ranch sits on a bit of a hill with a small stream valley from the west-northwest to just north of the property. There are no shelter belts or terrain to block some of the winds from the tornado. The two fatalities and one injury occurred at the Smith Ranch. The adult fatality was trying to get into the basement. The child fatality was in the basement and the chimney collapsed and crushed him. The adult injury was with the child, but on the other side of the chimney in the basement.

The tornado was rated an EF3 at the Smith Ranch, with a width of three tenths of a mile. This was the highest rating during the life cycle of the tornado. Along with the devastating destruction of property, there was also up to 40 cows and calves significantly injured or killed by the tornado and/or debris. Many had severe injuries and had to be put down by a veterinarian.

The damage totals are estimated.

A formal written report is available from the NWS Glasgow office.

Hail, Sheridan

When: July 26, 7:00 PM MST
Where: Sheridan County, 9 mi ESE of Medicine Lake
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 48.450, -104.319

Quarter size hail was observed with a 70 mph wind.

Hail, Sheridan

When: July 26, 7:00 PM MST
Where: Sheridan County, 7 mi SE of Reserve
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 48.528, -104.342

Penny size hail was accompanied by heavy rain.

Thunderstorm Wind, Sheridan

When: July 26, 7:00 PM MST
Where: Sheridan County, 9 mi ESE of Medicine Lake
Measured: 61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 48.450, -104.319

Very strong winds accompanied the storm. NWS damage survey found evidence of wind blown debris in the Medicine Lake area.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Sheridan	2010-07-26	10	Male	Permanent Home	Direct
Tornado, Sheridan	2010-07-26	46	Male	Permanent Home	Direct

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Montana in 2010 Every state in 2010 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Montana, 2010 Warnings in Montana, July 2010

Sources

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: 254647, 254645, 254650, 243027, 254646, 254649, 254651, 254653, 249136, 243682, 243796, 243797, 254661.