High Wind — Flathead/mission Valleys, Montana

2025-07-14 to 2025-07-15 · Flathead/mission Valleys, Montana

Event narrative

The ASOS station at Kalispell (KGPI) measured a peak gust of 58 mph, with unofficial estimates of frequent gusts near 50 mph along the east shore of Flathead Lake. The winds led to extensive power outages, with over 2,500 customers without power at the peak of the event and at least eight separate instances of downed power lines reported. The winds also caused a pile burn to get away from the owner and cause a shed to catch fire, and a photo showed roof damage to a structure in Yellow Bay. Several orchards between Blue Bay and Yellow Bay sustained damage in the form of bruising and cherry, plum and leaf drop. At least three powerline-related wildfires were started: northeast of Bigfork on Highway 83 near Echo Lake, northeast shore of Whitefish Lake as a tree fell onto a line, and near Hilltop Road in Columbia Falls. Flathead Lake exhibited confused seas, with swells arriving from multiple directions. A boat broke loose in the Lakeside area. A 58-year-old male drowned after taking a rowboat out with friends Tuesday morning near Rocky Point July 15.

Wider weather episode

During the late evening of July 14th, a strong backdoor cold front moved into northwest Montana. Combined with a strong pressure gradient that was accentuated by a low-pressure system over Oregon, this front produced a period of intense and damaging downslope winds, particularly along the Mission and Swan mountain ranges. The abrupt wind shift and severe gusts created dangerous conditions across the region.

Thunderstorms with dozens of lightning strikes were also reported across northwest Montana, and many locations saw widespread wetting rains. This meteorological setup was exceptionally rare; you have to go back to the Julys of 1972, 1958, and 1951 to find a similar event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1285846. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.