Low pressure and warm, moist air at the surface combined with a narrow corridor of unstable air to allow a few strong to severe thunderstorms to develop over portions of northeast 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.
Low pressure and warm, moist air at the surface combined with a narrow corridor of unstable air to allow a few strong to severe thunderstorms to develop over portions of northeast 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 Jun 13, 8:50 AM MST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service GLASGOW MT 950 AM MDT MON JUN 13 2016 .SHORT TERM...for northeast Montana...today through Wed... Band of showers and thunderstorms extending from near Billings east along I-94 this morning. Shortwave beginning to lift out of the Great Basin in the southwest flow aloft is expected to generate additional thunderstorms, mainly across the southern zones this afternoon and evening. Made some adjustments to pops and weather based off current conditions and SPC guidance. Ebert Previous short term discussion...Current weather pattern shows local relative surface high pressure slowly giving way to lower pressures from the west and increasing cloudiness along the WSW flow aloft. A band of showers and thunderstorms now stretches along and south of I-94. Immediate near and short term model consensus shows best agreement in bringing this increasing storm activity further north through the region throughout the day leading into tonight. Plenty of moist, southeasterly flow at the surface will allow for an un- stable atmosphere. Newest SPC outlook indicates strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible especially near and south of the upper Missouri River of northeast Montana. Expect to see widespread cumulus cloud development toward the middle of the day with storms forming during the early afternoon hours. General storm movement will be from west to east. Tuesday through Wednesday, the large British Columbian low will deepen and direct a strong southwest flow aloft over Montana. At this time, model precip data indicate that storm coverage will be scattered and more limited than today, but SPC still shows that some marginally severe storms may be possible among similarly favorable synoptic conditions. BMickelson .LONG TERM...Wed night through Mon... The extended forecast will continue to feature southwest flow aloft for the western US and Eastern Montana. A quasi-stationary front drifts back north into Northeast Montana Wednesday night. A shortwave trough in sw flow aloft will bring a good chance of showers and thunderstorms to most of the forecast area that could linger into Thursday in some areas. The southeast zones will likely be dry slotted during this period. The front moves to the east on Thursday as a cold front. Between Thursday and Saturday, the models are timing the shortwave troughs and ridges differently in the sw flow aloft. Will forecast chances for showers and thunderstorms most of the period. Model are pointing to some kind of upper trough moving through Montana Saturday Night with the flow aloft turn either zonal or northwest and allowing drier weather to prevail early next week. Forrester && .AVIATION... VFR cigs and vsbys will prevail today. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are a possibility during the afternoon and evening which may bring about brief reductions in vsbys. Southeast winds at 5 to 10 kts may become gusty and erratic in and near any thunderstorms. Maliawco && .GLASGOW WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. && weather.gov/glasgow
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 256 AM MDT MON JUN 13 2016 MTZ016>027-059>062-140900- CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PHILLIPS-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VALLEY- DANIELS-SHERIDAN-WESTERN ROOSEVELT-PETROLEUM-GARFIELD-MCCONE- RICHLAND-DAWSON-PRAIRIE-WIBAUX-NORTHERN PHILLIPS- SOUTHWEST PHILLIPS-NORTHERN VALLEY-EASTERN ROOSEVELT- 256 AM MDT MON JUN 13 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MONTANA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT WARM MOIST AIR FROM THE SOUTHEAST AND AN APPROACHING TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE FROM THE WEST WILL PRIME THE ATMOSPHERE FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING GENERALLY NEAR AND SOUTH OF THE MISSOURI RIVER. THE MAIN THREATS FROM ANY OF THE STRONGER STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY STRONG TO MARGINALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.
The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 234 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:45 UTC.
2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Public reported quarter sized hail lasting for 30 minutes. Lentil and wheat crops were damaged. Rain accumulation of 3 inches was estimated.
Trained spotter reported a few hail stones up to the size of quarters.
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, June 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: 645002, 645003.