Name: Flood in Montana, June 1 to 3, 2019
Start: 2019-06-01T09:41
End: 2019-06-03T11:00
Location: Montana

Where it happened

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Wind
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Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS BYZ wrote it up.

Very heavy rain over the Big Horn Mountains resulted in significant runoff into the Tongue River. The river crested just over 11 feet which was 4 feet higher than the record crest of 7.3 feet set in 2011. Flooding occurred along the Tongue River from the Birney area to just southeast of Colstrip.

What forecasters said that day

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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 1, 7:58 AM MST, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 1, 7:58 AM MST, 1 hour 43 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion...Updated
National Weather Service Billings MT
858 AM MDT Sat Jun 1 2019

.UPDATE...

Few changes were made to the forecast for this update. Expect
temperatures to warm up into the 70s today with mostly sunny
skies. Temperatures were lowered a few degrees along the ND border
due to the smoke from Alberta. The smoke is expected to move out
of the area later this evening. Scattered thunderstorms are
possible along the higher terrain along the mountains and
foothills later in the afternoon. Carrothers

&&

.SHORT TERM...valid for Tdy and Sun...

Flow will become more zonal through the day. Overall this weekend
will be warm and dry. However each afternoon with a little energy
working through the flow, expecting some scattered thunderstorms
to develop over the higher terrain. These generally dissipate as
they move off the terrain. Sunday could see some activity develop
in southeast Montana as a little better energy moves across the
southern tier of counties. Temperatures will be warming from the
70s for much of the lower elevations today into the 80s for
Sunday. Reimer

.LONG TERM...valid for Mon...Tue...Wed...Thu...Fri...

The trend has been for the operational run of the GFS to follow
the GFS ensembles, which follow closely with the EC. Have adjusted
the forecast with this in mind. Overall, weak zonal flow early in
the week, will back to the southwest and increase, as a deepening
trough moves into the Great Basin.

Expect a warming trend into Wednesday with high temperatures
reaching the 80s. Several weak waves will float through in zonal
flow Monday and Tuesday and this will generate a few showers and
thunderstorms, with the main activity being Monday. Lowering
heights Thursday and Friday will allow for gradually cooler
weather to take over as surface winds turn east to northeast. GFS
ensembles and the EC point to the best convection chances being
directed west and north Thursday and Friday, with increasingly
better chances of showers next weekend. TWH
&&

.AVIATION...

VFR conditions will prevail with light surface winds. A few
showers and thunderstorms will develop over the higher terrain,
mainly west of KBIL. Local MVFR conditions are possible in the
heavier showers. Mountain obscurations are possible with showers
and thunderstorms. Carrothers
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    Tdy Sun     Mon     Tue     Wed     Thu     Fri
-------------------------------------------------------
BIL 077 054/083 058/085 058/080 057/082 057/081 055/078
    1/U 01/U    02/T    11/B    12/T    23/T    43/T
LVM 074 049/078 051/078 051/077 050/079 050/077 050/071
    4/T 23/T    13/T    33/T    23/T    35/T    55/T
HDN 077 053/083 055/086 058/081 056/084 056/082 055/079
    1/U 02/T    02/T    21/B    11/U    22/T    43/T
MLS 076 054/084 058/088 059/084 057/085 058/084 057/079
    0/U 01/U    01/U    21/B    11/B    21/U    42/T
4BQ 075 053/081 056/085 057/081 055/082 056/081 057/079
    1/U 02/T    12/T    21/B    11/U    11/B    22/T
BHK 073 051/080 055/085 057/080 054/080 054/081 055/078
    0/U 02/T    12/T    21/B    11/B    21/B    32/T
SHR 073 049/079 052/082 054/077 052/079 052/080 053/076
    4/T 14/T    14/T    24/T    24/T    34/T    44/T

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...None.
WY...None.

&&

weather.gov/billings

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Rosebud

When: June 1, 9:41 AM MST to June 3, 11:00 AM MST
Where: Rosebud County, 0.55 mi E of Birney to 0.63 mi W of Birney
Cause: Heavy Rain
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 45.321, -106.509

Very heavy rain over the Big Horn Mountains resulted in significant runoff into the Tongue River. The river crested just over 11 feet which was 4 feet higher than the record crest of 7.3 feet set in 2011. Flooding occurred along the Tongue River from the Birney area to just southeast of Colstrip. |One home was inundated by the flood waters. A levee in Ashland flooded at St Labre which resulted in homes in the Cheyenne Village near St Labre being accessed only by boat for a period of time. Water inundation of these homes was confined to crawl spaces and not up to floor level. Six homes on the Northern Cheyenne Tribe Reservation were inundated by floodwaters. The American Red Cross set up a shelter at the Ashland Public School. |The Tongue River was also out of its banks at Brandenberg, mainly in the grassy areas, but it did cover about 3 feet of the gravel on Tongue River Road.

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Montana in 2019 Every state in 2019 This day in weather history Warnings in Montana, June 2019

Sources

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: 848990.