F0 tornado, Hobson to Moore, Montana, June 28, 2002

1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F0

Date

June 28, 2002

Touchdown

8:45 PM MDT (02:45 UTC)

Path length

11.0 miles (17.7 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Judith Basin and Fergus counties

Touchdown point

47.000, -109.870

Lift-off point

46.980, -109.680

Record number

738

A severe thunderstorm moved across the far eastern portions of Judith Basin County and into the far western sections of Fergus county around 2000 MST. Wind gusts to near 70 mph were reported from Hobson to Hilger, with 60 mph winds recorded in Lewistown A tornado did touch down just west of Buffalo at approximately 2000 MST, and then moved northeast into central Fergus county. The tornado finally dissipated about 10 miles southeast of Moore. This tornado made several brief touchdowns, and was an F0. The longest tornado path on the ground was less than one half mile. Wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph were reported along the entire path. One shed was destroyed, and the remainder of the damage was limited to objects not secured down. Near 1930 MST, a small ultra-light plane was damaged while trying to land south of Lewistown. Wind gusts were estimated near 60 mph.

A severe thunderstorm moved across the far eastern portions of Judith Basin County and into the far western sections of Fergus county around 2000 MST. Wind gusts to near 70 mph were reported from Hobson to Hilger, with 60 mph winds recorded in Lewistown A tornado did touch down just west of Buffalo at approximately 2000 MST, and then moved northeast into central Fergus county. The tornado finally dissipated about 10 miles southeast of Moore. This tornado made several brief touchdowns, and was an F0. The longest tornado path on the ground was less than one half mile. Wind gusts between 60 and 70 mph were reported along the entire path. One shed was destroyed, and the remainder of the damage was limited to objects not secured down. Near 1930 MST, a small ultra-light plane was damaged while trying to land south of Lewistown. Wind gusts were estimated near 60 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

NWS Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 28, 8:45 PM MDT, 0 minutes earlier.

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
845 PM MDT FRI JUN 28 2002

.SHORT TERM...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
PART OF THE CWA AT THE TIME. THE SEVERE THREAT HAS ENDED FOR MOST OF
THE CWA...EXCEPT FOR JUDITH BASIN AND FERGUS COUNTIES. ONCE THE
STORMS MOVE OUT OF THE AREA WILL DROP POPS. WILL KEEP SCATTERED POPS
FOR THE FAR WESTERN ZONES. BEST CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
LOOK TO BE TOMORROW MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON. CURRENT FORECAST
HANDLES THIS WELL.

EXTENDED...SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL PERSIST OVER THE CWA THROUGH
THE EXTENDED PERIOD. TUESDAY LOOKS TO BE DRY AS A SHORT WAVE RIDGE
SWINGS THROUGH THE REGION. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND
EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY UNDER THE SOUTHWEST
FLOW. TEMPERATURES DURING THIS PERIOD WILL REMAIN NEAR NORMAL. MEIER

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF NU 058/078 050/082 050 14240
    BBBBB 080/045 078/048 082/048 080/048 080 00011133333
CTB NU 056/074 048/076 050 14430
    BBBBB 075/042 077/046 078/048 078/048 078 00011133333
HLN NU 058/080 050/084 052 14441
    BBBBB 082/050 080/050 082/050 082/050 082 00011133333
BZN BU 052/082 045/084 047 14232
    BBBBB 082/045 077/049 080/049 080/049 081 00011133333
WEY BU 044/078 040/072 040 14221
    BBBBB 073/041 076/045 075/045 075/045 075 00011133333
DLN NU 053/077 044/082 048 14231
    BBBBB 081/045 078/048 080/050 082/050 082 00011133333
HVR NU 060/080 052/083 052 14230
    BBBBB 081/048 078/050 082/050 082/050 082 00011133333
LWT NU 057/078 048/081 050 14441
    BBBBB 079/044 079/050 080/050 080/050 080 00011133333=

.TFX...FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR GLACIER COUNTY (ZONES 9 AND 10).

In the hours before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
511 PM MDT FRI JUN 28 2002

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0445 PM    9 SE DILLON               MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
06/28/02   BEAVERHEAD

NNNN

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Lewistown Municipal (LWT), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2002 tornado in MontanaEvery tornado in Montana since 1950Warnings in force in Montana nowThe forecast where you are

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.