Thunderstorm Wind — Flathead, Montana

2020-05-31 · near Somers, Flathead, Montana

Event narrative

Widespread high winds were reported as a line of thunderstorms, in the form of a squall line, moved north-northeastward across the region. While wind gusts of 50 to 60 miles per hour were common, a person from the public in Kila reported a measured peak wind gust of 78 miles per hour, and the ASOS at Glacier Park International Airport recorded a peak wind gust of 69 miles per hour. Numerous trees were either snapped in half or uprooted,which resulted in over 200 power outages and 37,000 customers without power. Several houses and vehicles were destroyed as trees fell onto them. Highway 2 and Montana Highway 83 were both covered by fallen trees for a time. A local electric coop remarked that this wind event may be the largest, most damaging outage event in our history.

Wider weather episode

A line of severe thunderstorms brought high winds and tree damage during the morning hours.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (48.0895, -114.1858)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 884102. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.