Temperatures rose well into the 90s across much of western Montana which allowed a strong dust devil to form north of Rexford. A school was damaged as a result.
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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.
Temperatures rose well into the 90s across much of western Montana which allowed a strong dust devil to form north of Rexford. A school was damaged as a result.
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 26, 2:18 AM MST, 9 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
318 AM MDT Fri Jul 26 2013
...Increasing winds Saturday afternoon, increasing fire danger...
.DISCUSSION...
Today and Tonight...Hot dry conditions will continue today. Some
monsoonal moisture moving across central Idaho today will
present a thunderstorm threat for Lemhi county and adjacent
mountain ranges. The upper level ridge will begin to breakdown
tonight in response to a weather system moving into British
Columbia.
Saturday through Sunday...The breakdown of the ridge continues
Saturday with westerly winds increasing during the afternoon to
compliment warm, dry conditions. This raises some fire weather
concerns for existing fires, as well as any potential new starts.
Any moisture that is available for thunderstorms will be confined
to Lemhi county and southwest Montana Saturday afternoon and
evening. A cooling trend is expected this weekend with day-time
highs dipping into the 80s by Sunday. The focus for showers and
thunderstorms will be near the Continental Divide.
Taking a look ahead (Wednesday through Friday)...Medium range
models continue to show a cooler, showers pattern which would be
good news for area wildfires. Forecast confidence continues to
grow with each model run advertising roughly the same pattern.
&&
.AVIATION...Favorable conditions will persist throughout western
Montana and north-central Idaho today as the very warm, dry
upper ridge holds steadfast. However, a slight chance of late-day
thunderstorm still exists across Lemhi county. The breakdown of
the ridge pattern will begin tonight, but the atmosphere will
remain quite dry overnight.
&&
.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...FIRE WEATHER WATCH from Saturday afternoon through Saturday
evening Bitterroot/Sapphire Mountains...Butte/Blackfoot
Region...Flathead/Mission Valleys...Kootenai/Cabinet
Region...Lower Clark Fork Region...Missoula/Bitterroot
Valleys...Potomac/Seeley Lake Region...West Glacier Region.
ID...FIRE WEATHER WATCH from Saturday afternoon through Saturday
evening Eastern Lemhi County...Southern Clearwater
Mountains...Western Lemhi County.
&&
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https://www.twitter.com/NWSMissoulaThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 dust devil. Local standard time, as filed.
A member of the public in West Kootenai observed a strong and long-lived dust devil that caused roof damage to the Amish school and cut power momentarily at a warehouse. They said this was the strongest one they had ever experienced there in decades.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, July 2013
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: 471851.