Strong winds developed over Logan Pass.
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 TFX wrote it up.
Strong winds developed over Logan Pass.
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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 4, 4:35 AM MST, 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 535 AM MDT WED JUL 4 2012 UPDATED AVIATION .DISCUSSION... TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY...AN UPPER LOW OVER WESTERN SASKATCHEWAN EARLY THIS MORNING WILL CONTINUE MOVING EAST THROUGH CANADA. THIS WILL ALLOW THE LARGE UPPER HIGH CENTERED OVER THE CENTRAL U.S. TO EXERT MORE OF AN INFLUENCE OVER MONTANA AND INTO SOUTHWEST CANADA. THIS WILL RESULT IN A WARMING TREND THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THE AIR MASS WILL BE VERY DRY TODAY AND EXPECT GENERALLY CLEAR SKIES. FOR THURSDAY EXPECT SOME INSTABILITY OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF A WEAK WEATHER DISTURBANCE ALOFT. WILL CONTINUE THE MENTION OF A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THAT AREA. HOWEVER FARTHER NORTH THE AIR MASS SHOULD REMAIN STABLE SO DROPPED ANY MENTION OF PRECIPITATION. LOOKING AHEAD TO FRIDAY THE AIR MASS IS EXPECTED TO BE UNSTABLE OVER THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. THERE IS SOME INDICATION FROM THE MODELS THAT THERE COULD BE MORE MOISTURE OVER THE EASTERN ZONES RELATIVE TO THOSE IN THE WEST SO LOWERED THE CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION OVER THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT SOME. SPEAKING OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT WILL CONTINUE THE HIGH WIND WARNING IN THAT AREA THROUGH 6 AM. WINDS AT LOGAN PASS EARLY THIS MORNING WERE STILL EXCEEDING HIGH WIND CRITERIA. WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DROP BELOW CRITERIA SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE. BLANK FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...AN UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE FORECAST AREA AND DOMINATE THE WEATHER PATTERN FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST PERIOD. AS THE RIDGE BUILDS...INCREASING MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH MONSOONAL FLOW WILL SPREAD INTO THE AREA. THIS WILL PRIMARILY AFFECT SOUTHWEST MONTANA WHERE BEST MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL EXIST...HOWEVER THERE WILL ALSO BE CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO CENTRAL AND NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANA AS WEAK EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. CONFIDENCE IS LOW REGARDING THE TIMING OF EACH SHORTWAVE...THUS HAVE KEPT SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE POPS EVERY DAY THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD. MOUNTAINOUS AREAS CAN EXPECT THE MOST CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY THOUGH SOME STORMS WILL STILL DEVELOP OVER THE PLAINS AND VALLEYS. SURFACE WINDS WILL HAVE AN EASTERLY COMPONENT AND GENERALLY BE LIGHT THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM THE UPPER 80S TO LOW 90S WHICH IS AROUND 10 TO 15 DEGREES ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. MLV && .AVIATION... UPDATED 1200Z. GUSTY SOUTHWESTERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT KCTB AND OTHER AREAS ALONG THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT THOUGH WINDS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE THIS MORNING. VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS WITH CALMER AND DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED. MLV && .FIRE WEATHER... UPDATED 0945Z. MINIMUM HUMIDITIES WILL BE BELOW 20 PERCENT OVER MOST THE LOWER ELEVATIONS TODAY. HOWEVER WINDS IN EXCESS OF 15 MILES AN HOUR SHOULD BE CONFINED TO THE AREA NORTH OF A LINE FROM LEWISTOWN TO GREAT FALLS TO CONRAD. SINCE DO NOT SEE WIDESPREAD FIRE DANGERS IN THE HIGH CATEGORY IN THIS AREA DO NOT PLAN ON ISSUING ANY FIRE WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS BUT WILL HIGHLIGHT THE GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES IN THE NORTH IN THE FIRE WEATHER FORECAST. BLANK && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 79 47 85 56 / 0 0 0 10 CTB 72 42 79 52 / 0 0 0 10 HLN 80 50 87 58 / 0 0 10 10 BZN 83 46 87 51 / 0 0 10 10 WEY 77 43 78 43 / 0 0 20 20 DLN 82 48 85 52 / 0 0 10 10 HVR 79 47 85 56 / 0 0 0 10 LWT 76 46 80 56 / 0 0 0 10 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 6 AM MDT EARLY THIS MORNING NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT...SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT. && WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 350 AM MDT WED JUL 4 2012 MTZ009-048-051000- NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT- 350 AM MDT WED JUL 4 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH 6 AM. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL AFFECT HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF GLACIER PARK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MTZ008-010>015-044>047-049>055-051000- BEAVERHEAD-EASTERN GLACIER-HILL-CASCADE-CHOUTEAU- CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON-TOOLE-LIBERTY- EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE-EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS- JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-GALLATIN- 350 AM MDT WED JUL 4 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MONTANA...NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Very strong winds developed over Logan Pass for most of the day. Winds consistently gusted over 60KT with a max report of 75KT (86MPH).
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, July 2012
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: 397927.