A plume of monsoonal moisture worked its way up from the south under a ridge of high pressure causing late day, high-based thunderstorms. These storms had very little moisture associated with them and produced gusty winds.
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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 MSO wrote it up.
A plume of monsoonal moisture worked its way up from the south under a ridge of high pressure causing late day, high-based thunderstorms. These storms had very little moisture associated with them and produced gusty winds.
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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 7, 1:47 PM MST, 5 hours 13 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Missoula MT 247 PM MDT Sat Jul 7 2012 ...HOT THROUGH NEXT WEEK... .DISCUSSION... High pressure will be the main weather feature over the Northern Rockies during much of the next week and beyond. Warm air will continue to accumulate through early next week, with the warmest weather of the past 3 years anticipated on Sunday. Temperatures at many locations will be in the 90s to near 100, with some high temperature records likely to be met or exceeded. Concurrent with the heat, monsoon moisture will be embedded within high pressure, allowing showers and thunderstorms to develop daily. Forecast models continue to depict high pressure persisting well through next week, signaling continued high temperatures well into the 90s for low elevations. Despite the showers and thunderstorms present each day, appreciable rainfall will be fleeting and thus fire danger will likely increase across the Northern Rockies during the next week. && .AVIATION...Showers and thunderstorms have become far more widespread than yesterday across the Northern Rockies this afternoon. Expect this activity to continue through tonight, affecting all terminal locations. The main impacts will be brief heavy rainfall which may reduce visibility, lightning/CBs and occasional wind gusts to 30kts near the stronger cells. The convection should wain after sunset with the stabilizing atmosphere but not completely shut off as moisture and instability are expected to linger, albeit much weaker in nature, throughout the night. Another round of activity similar to today is anticipated for tomorrow. && .MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MT...None. ID...RED FLAG WARNING until Midnight MDT tonight Eastern Lemhi County. && Zumpfe/Dickerson
The Missoula radar (KMSX), 131 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:01 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
There were 20 reports of wind damage in and around Kalispell. Blown over Trees took power lines down and damaged some houses. In addition, 2115 people were without power for a few hours.
A thunderstorm wind gust of 53 mph was measured by the Sheepherder Hill RAWS at 3090 feet.
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: 402458, 402460.