Thunderstorm Wind — Pondera, Montana

2024-08-23 · near Brady, Pondera, Montana

Event narrative

Trained spotter reports a partially broken power pole. Time was estimated by radar.

Wider weather episode

An anomalously strong upper level trough was set up just off the west coast, which resulted in a strong belt of mid level southerly flow across Southwest through North-central Montana. Synoptic winds were already breezy from the south, allowing thunderstorms to easily produce strong wind gusts given inverted-V soundings. Wind gusts in excess of 80 mph were observed on this day as a line of gusty outflow spread northward over the plains.

A High Wind Warning was also issued for Southwest Montana this day, though no strong synoptic gusts were observed.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (47.9800, -111.7700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1200670. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.