With many boundaries near the surface and a cool northwesterly flow aloft promoting shower and thunderstorm development, one landspout was observed and reported on each of April 20 and 21.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 TFX wrote it up.
With many boundaries near the surface and a cool northwesterly flow aloft promoting shower and thunderstorm development, one landspout was observed and reported on each of April 20 and 21.
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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 1:26 PM MST, 34 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Great Falls MT 226 PM MDT Sun Apr 20 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - Unsettled weather will continue through at least Tuesday with a widespread chance for mountain snow and lower elevation rain. - Isolated thunderstorms, mainly from the late morning through early evening, are possible through Monday. - Near normal temperatures will continue through the middle of the week with a chance for another warm up towards the end of the week. && .DISCUSSION... - Meteorological Overview: Moist, unstable northwest flow over the Northern Rockies through Tuesday afternoon will help to maintain daily chance for rain/snow showers (and even a few thunderstorms) across all of Southwest through North Central Montana, with temperatures hovering near to slightly below normal across these regions. By Tuesday afternoon/evening the upper level flow will begin to back to west and eventually southwest as a compact shortwave digs from the Pacific Northwest to over the Great Basin through Wednesday morning. This shortwave will help to re-focus isolated to scattered rain/snow across Southwest and portions of Central (i.e. south of the Montana Hwy 200 corridor) Montana throughout the timeframe. By Wednesday afternoon/evening another shortwave digging southwest from British Columbia/Alberta will begin to phase with the shortwave over the Great Basin, which will help to support some (albeit limited) chance for showers further north into the remainder of Central and portions of North Central Montana. Transient ridging will then begin to slide east from the western seaboard from Thursday through Saturday, with this ridge helping temperatures to moderate on Thursday before climbing above normal for Friday and Saturday. - Moldan - Forecast Confidence & Scenarios: Thunderstorms thru Monday : General thunderstorms producing gusty and erratic winds and small hail are possible through the timeframe, most notably from the late morning through early evening hours each day when solar insolation will be the strongest. While an isolated stronger thunderstorm producing marginal hail (i.e. 1/2" to 3/4") is possible given low freezing levels and a deep hail growth zone the overall lack of CAPE and shear will keep this shallow topped convection disorganized. None-the-less, accumulating small hail notorious beneath this springtime pattern, along with brief bursts of moderate to heavy rain given the moderately tall and skinny CAPE profile. - Moldan Snowfall through Tuesday: Overall, compared to previous forecasts there were no significant changes in the expected snowfall amounts. Most places along the Continental Divide, island ranges of central Montana and the mountains of southwest Montana will see 1 to 3 inches of new snow. Confidence for amounts above 3 inches drops off pretty quickly with the probability of 4 inches or more sitting at less than 60% and the probability for 6 inches or more at less than 30%. When evaluating the potential for headlines, the heaviest snow is expected to be confined to the highest elevations and far above pass level. Thus there is no need for an advisory at this time but those in the backcountry should be prepared for difficult conditions over the next couple of days. Rain through Tuesday: Lower elevations across much of the region have a chance at seeing rain through Tuesday afternoon. The heaviest amounts are expected from this evening through Monday afternoon, with the highest storm total amounts expected in southwest Montana. Most locations are likely to see at least some precipitation, however the Rocky Mountain Front and portions of north-central Montana are expected to remain largely dry through this event with precipitation amounts above a tenth of an inch more likely south and east of a line from Havre to WSS to Helena. This same region also has around a 50% chance of a quarter inch or more of precipitation through Tuesday afternoon. Isolated higher amounts are also possible under heavier showers and thunderstorms. -thor && .AVIATION... 20/18Z TAF Period The main concern through the TAF period is periodic, scattered rain showers/mountain snow. This afternoon, weak instability will produce a few thunderstorms across the region. However, since there is uncertainty to pinpoint where thunderstorm development will occur, it was left out of the TAFs at this moment. Monday morning, light snow will try to mix in with showers across Southwest MT. Precipitation overnight into Monday morning will bring MVFR conditions to parts of North-Central MT(with IFR in Southwest MT). -Wilson Refer to weather.gov/zlc for more detailed regional aviation weather and hazard information. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... GTF 38 54 33 53 / 50 60 20 30 CTB 33 50 29 50 / 30 50 40 30 HLN 38 53 31 55 / 50 60 10 10 BZN 33 49 23 51 / 90 90 20 10 WYS 27 46 15 48 / 70 80 20 10 DLN 33 51 24 52 / 60 50 10 0 HVR 34 56 31 52 / 50 70 60 30 LWT 35 50 29 48 / 80 90 50 30 && .TFX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... None. && http://www.weather.gov/greatfalls
The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 137 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:02 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Landspout. The public relayed a report of a landspout to broadcast media on social media. Time and location is estimated.
Landspout. NWS employee relayed a report of a landsput near Floweree. It was brief in nature. Location estimated.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Montana in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Montana, April 2025
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: 1258064, 1258065.