A severe thunderstorm over Cascade County generated strong outflow winds as it passed through Central Cascade County.
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The episode as NWS TFX wrote it up.
A severe thunderstorm over Cascade County generated strong outflow winds as it passed through Central Cascade County.
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 6, 1:49 PM MST, 2 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 249 PM MDT FRI JUL 6 2012 .DISCUSSION... THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY EVENING...FAIRLY QUIET CONDITIONS THIS AFTN AS WESTERN FLANK OF THE STRONG HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED OVER THE MIDWEST STATES BEGINS TO EXPAND INTO OUR REGION. AS NOTED IN THIS MORNINGS UPDATE...THE FLOW OF MONSOONAL MOISTURE HAS DRIFTED INTO COLORADO/ERN WYOMING BUT A NARROW RIBBON OF PACIFIC MOISTURE CUTTING ACROSS WESTERN MT IS CLOSE ENOUGH TO SET OFF VERY SPOTTY SHOWERS... WITH A FEW WEAK SHORT-LIVED THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY FROM HELENA/BUTTE EAST TO LEWISTOWN. EXPECT ANY PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS FROM THIS ACTIVITY TO BE A FEW HUNDREDTHS AT BEST WITH THE CELLS DISSIPATING QUICKLY LATER THIS EVE. FORECAST MODELS STILL IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THE UPPER RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN...WITH THE RIDGE AXIS BECOMING ESTABLISHED RIGHT THRU CENTRAL MT DURING THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR A STEADY WARMUP OF AFTN TEMPERATURES WITH UPPER 80S TO LOW 90S TOMORROW AND LOW-MID 90S ON SUNDAY. THE MONSOONAL MOISTURE GRADUALLY REDEVELOPS AS WELL LEADING TO ISOLATED AFTN/EVE THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY...WITH MODELS SHOWING SLIGHTLY BROADER COVERAGE OF STORMS ON SUNDAY. WITH FORECAST PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES ONLY IN THE 0.5 TO 0.8 INCH RANGE...THE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WILL LIKELY BE A MIX OF WET AND DRY STORMS. WINDS WILL REMAIN LIGHT AND VARIABLE THRU THE WEEKEND. WARANAUSKAS SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...VARIABLE STRENGTH HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION FOR THE LONG TERM PERIOD. SCATTERED MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH MONSOONAL FLOW WILL SPREAD INTO THE AREA FROM THE SOUTH. THIS WILL PRIMARILY AFFECT SOUTHWEST MONTANA WHERE BEST INSTABILITY WILL EXIST...HOWEVER THERE WILL ALSO BE CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL AND NORTH-CENTRAL MONTANA AS DISTURBANCES TRAVERSE THROUGH THE FLOW. CONFIDENCE IS LOW REGARDING THE TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF DISTURBANCES AS ANY ACTIVITY LOOKS TO BE QUITE SHOWERY AND SCATTERED IN NATURE. AS A RESULT...HAVE KEPT SLIGHT CHANCE TO CHANCE POP THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD AS MODEL AGREEMENT IS SPOTTY AT BEST. THAT BEING SAID...HIGHER TERRAIN CAN EXPECT THE MOST CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY POTENTIAL BEFORE SOME CELLS MOVE OUT OVER THE PLAINS AND VALLEYS. WINDS WILL VARY IN DIRECTION BUT BE GENERALLY LIGHT. AFTERNOON HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL RANGE FROM THE UPPER 80S TO MID 90S WITH MON AND TUE LIKELY THE WARMEST. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE IN THE LOW 50S TO LOW 60S THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION... UPDATED 1740Z. VFR CONDITIONS WILL GENERALLY PREVAIL AT ALL TAF SITES THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE ONLY EXCEPTION WILL BE THE CHANCE FOR AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD BE SHORT LIVED AND FAIRLY WIDELY SCATTERED. EXPECT MOSTLY DRY CONDITIONS AFTER 07Z SATURDAY...BUT MORE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE ONCE AGAIN DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS ON SATURDAY. BRUSDA && .FIRE WEATHER... HIGH PRESSURE RIDGING RETURNS IN EARNEST THIS WEEKEND...BEGINNING AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF THE WARMEST/DRIEST CONDITIONS OF THE SEASON SO FAR. FIRE DANGER WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE AS ALL FUEL TYPES CONTINUE TO DRY OUT WITH FINE FUELS QUICKLY APPROACHING OR REACHING CURED STATUS OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. EXPECT MINIMUM HUMIDITIES TO DROP INTO THE UPPER TEENS TO LOW 20S PERCENT RANGE ON SAT WITH MID- UPPER TEENS BECOMING MORE WIDESPREAD ON SUN. HOWEVER...WITH LIGHT WINDS IN THE FORECAST...FIRE WEATHER HEADLINES ARE NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. MONSOONAL MOISTURE ALSO INCREASES OVER THE REGION BRINGING BROADER COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM SAT INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. FORECAST MODELS INDICATE THAT THE STORMS WILL BE A MIX OF DRY/WET TYPES...RESULTING IN AN INCREASED THREAT OF LIGHTNING STARTS AND HOLDOVERS. WARANAUSKAS && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 55 88 59 91 / 10 20 20 20 CTB 50 85 54 89 / 10 10 10 10 HLN 58 91 60 93 / 20 20 20 20 BZN 51 89 51 91 / 20 20 20 20 WEY 40 82 41 85 / 20 30 20 20 DLN 51 88 53 91 / 20 20 20 20 HVR 56 90 59 93 / 10 10 20 20 LWT 55 84 57 87 / 10 20 20 20 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. && SHORT TERM...WARANAUSKAS LONG TERM...GUSTAFSON AVIATION...BRUSDA WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 344 AM MDT FRI JUL 6 2012 MTZ008>015-044>055-070945- BEAVERHEAD-NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-EASTERN GLACIER-HILL- CASCADE-CHOUTEAU-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON- TOOLE-LIBERTY-EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE- SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS- JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-GALLATIN- 344 AM MDT FRI JUL 6 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...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 0 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:25 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Wind gust to 55KT (63MPH) reported at the NWS Great Falls Forecast Office causing damage to a utility pole.
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: 398247.