Strong daytime heating allowed a few severe thunderstorms to develop as the leading edge of a more unstable atmosphere moved from the higher elevations of central Montana to the lower elevations of eastern Montana.
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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 GGW wrote it up.
Strong daytime heating allowed a few severe thunderstorms to develop as the leading edge of a more unstable atmosphere moved from the higher elevations of central Montana to the lower elevations of eastern Montana.
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 19, 1:17 PM MST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service GLASGOW MT 217 PM MDT TUE JUL 19 2016 .SHORT TERM...for northeast Montana...tonight through Thu... Upper low is parked over the Pacific NW coast keeping southwest flow over Montana tonight but begins to flatten Wednesday night and ridge over the plains states builds northwest into Montana Thursday. Big question for tonight will be how widespread thunderstorms will be. Persistence leads to giving more coverage and 12z NAM seems to be giving us that, GFS a bit less. SPC's SSEO shows a strong storm or two tonight mainly between 9 pm and 1 am. Increased pops a bit over model consensus. Storms may linger a bit into Wednesday night as jet energy may tap leftover instability. Storm Prediction Center has the eastern zones under a Marginal Risk of severe thunderstorms. Afterwards, mainly clear and warm/hot conditions are expected Thursday. Temperatures will be slightly above normal. More active conditions can be expected Friday. Read below for more information. TFJ .LONG TERM...Thu night through Tue... Models still diverge on timing of shortwave for Friday with the 12Z NAM and GFS Indicating convective potential before 18z and the ECMWF hanging onto the afternoon timing. Will keep in inherited pops given the uncertainty. Otherwise, changes included population of temperatures and winds with latest model blends and a few minor tweaks to clouds. The remainder of the long term period remains on track as described below. Maliawco Previous Long Term Discussion... Upper level ridge axis will move to the east Thursday Night and flow aloft turns to the southwest. A weak shortwave in the SW flow aloft could bring a slight chance of thunderstorms to parts of the area Thursday Night and Friday. A shortwave trough will move along the Montana/Canada border Friday Night and Saturday with a cold front and chance of thunderstorms. High pressure and upper ridge will bring dry weather on Sunday and Monday. The ridge should keep the weather dry through Tuesday. Forrester && .AVIATION... While VFR conditions will prevail overnight, reduced VSBYS and 6 kft CIGS are possible with isolated thunderstorms that may occur. Winds will be light and variable but may become gusty and erratic near thunderstorms. Maliawco && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && weather.gov/glasgow
The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 144 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:22 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Lufborough Hill MT-200 DOT station measured a 61 mph wind gust.
The King Coulee RAWS station measured a 68 mph wind gust.
Public reported a 70 mph wind gust.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, July 2016
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: 651788, 651791, 651793.