Missoula storm history

A state of emergency was declared by both the Missoula County Commission Chair and Missoula Mayor because of the unprecedented wind damage that occurred. The 80 to 100 mph winds brought thousands of trees down across the county. It wasn't just a quick gust, but rather high winds …

Multiple tree branches were broken across the Pleasant View subdivision. Lawn furniture swing was thrown 10 yards from the back to front yard of a residence.

A public report described torrential rain of approximately 20 minutes in duration and roadway ponding near Bernice's Bakery around 1600MST; additionally, the roof of new annex started leaking.

A slow-moving thunderstorm impacted the area northwest of Missoula, producing both large hail and heavy, localized rainfall. Quarter-sized (1.00 inch) hail was estimated via photos near the Frenchtown Mill. The storm's torrential downpour resulted in an official measurement of 0.…

Hail estimated slightly over one inch in diameter was reported in Lolo, an event confirmed by at least two separate photos submitted by local residents.

In East Missoula, a wedding tent was collapsed by the winds. Northwest of the Wye, gusts were estimated to be over 50 mph. The University of Montana campus also sustained damage, with several downed trees, one of which fell onto a roof.

A severe thunderstorm produced a gust of 67 mph at the ASOS at the Missoula Airport. An NWS employee estimated a gust to 90 mph in Frenchtown. A mesonet site in Turah measured a gust of 54 mph. There were reports of trees across the roads in Missoula. The power company showed a f…

Social media reported lots of damage in Seeley Lake. Essential travel only was declared at about 5:17pm MST and lifted on Aug 24 at 5:46pm MST. Social media produced several images of trees down on houses and decks.

An NWS employee measured 1 inch hail near Frenchtown.

Missoula County reported eastbound traffic closed at Reserve Street as well as westbound at Paxon St for a tree in the road. The power company reported over 1000 customers without power. The ASOS at Missoula Airport measured a gust of 72 mph.

An NWS employee reported one inch hail in Missoula.

An NWS employee reported one inch hail in Frenchtown at 17:04 MST.

Several large, mature trees were uprooted. One tree landed on a car in Johnsrud Park and completely crushed it. Windspeed estimated from Beaufort Scale.

Radar velocity data indicated wind speeds over 50 knots. An emergency manager reported a tree falling on a house in Target Range. A wind gust of 51 mph was recorded at the Missoula International Airport.

A weather spotter reported that a large tree, approximately 18 inches in diameter, fell down one mile east of Seeley Lake. Trees were also reported down on Morrell Creek Road and 13 miles south of Condon, on Highway-83. A couple hundred customers lost power near Condon.

Multiple car crashes were reported on Interstate-90 near Missoula as a thunderstorm with strong winds and heavy rain moved through. A wind gust of 52 mph was recorded at the Missoula International Airport, with the main core of the storm passing to the east of the airport.

The Clark Fork River above Missoula reached minor flood stage of 7.5 feet by 1100MST on May 3rd. The river remained above minor flood stage through 1900MST on May 11th. The river crested at 9.5 feet around 0400MST on May 7th. This did cause sandbagging efforts in the frequently f…

One inch hail was reported from a storm that had a relatively small core of 55-60 dbz returns. There were no damage reports from this event.

A trained spotter reported 1 1/2 inch hail along with near continuous lighting. She also reported minor damage to trees with a few leaves shredded.

A member of the public sent in a photo demonstrating 1.25 hail. Hail around 2.5 was reported by an employee of the NWS near Wye, MT.

A member of the public sent in a photo of 2 hail that fell near Seeley Lake.

There were two reports of 1 hail near Clinton, followed by another near US-200 2 miles from Potomac, MT.

There were two reports of large hail near Salmon Lake; a Forest Service employee reported 1.5 hail south of the lake, while there was a report of 1.75 hail just east of the lake.

One inch hail was reported on the 'eastside' of Florence, MT.

A photo on Twitter depicted 1 hail in Seeley Lake, MT.

A Facebook report of half dollar size hail just west of Potomac.

Quarter size hail in the Rattlesnake area to the northeast of Missoula.

The Clark Fork River above Missoula briefly reached minor flood stage with limited impacts of water into low lying areas adjacent to the river.

The Bitterroot River near Missoula briefly reached minor flood stage with limited impacts of water into low lying areas adjacent to the river.

A trained spotter reported 1.3 inches of rainfall during a 45 minute period in Big Sky Lake. Excessive runoff washed out a resident's driveway along Big Sky Lake.

A severe thunderstorm developed close to Clinton, MT, and began a slow movement to the northeast over the next hour and 30 minutes. During that time two different spotters reported 1 hail.

An outflow wind from a northerly moving thunderstorm produced strong to severe winds from roughly 6-7 pm MDT, with a peak gust of 64 mph at Missoula Intl. Airport. These winds caused downed trees and powerlines, and also damaged a roof. The outflow boundary snapped a tree north o…

Strong southerly outflow winds of 45 to 60 mph downed hundreds of live trees, primarily ponderosa and larch varieties. Most of the trees were uprooted but a few had tops blown out. The main area of damage extended from Salmon Lake to the Seeley Lake area with isolated areas of da…

Flood waters impacted the north end of Tower Street and also Kehrwald Drive. The peak gage height occurred at 1245 PM June 5 and was 8.19 ft.

Water from the Clark Fork River flooded the north end of Tower Street and also Kehrwald Drive. The peak gage height occurred at 2230 PM May 28 and was 7.98 ft.

The Clark Fork River flooded the Orchard Homes neighborhood in Missoula. Neighborhood streets turned into streams, with 10 to 15 homes sandbagged and surrounded by flood water. Flooding continued through the second week of June.

A business reported a very tall ponderosa pine tree snapped in half in their yard and they heard of several other trees down in the area. The hail was mostly dime-sized.

A thunderstorm produced nickel to quarter-sized hail in the town of Bonner during the afternoon of the 13th.

Penny to half-dollar-sized hail was reported in the town Seeley Lake. Half-dollar-sized hail was reported by a boater on Seeley Lake.

Flooding was observed in the Orchard Homes area of Missoula as the Clark Fork River rose above minor flood stage beginning midday on the 14th. The Clark Fork River's flow peaked at 9.15 feet late on the 18th, and finally fell below flood stage late on the 21st with residential fl…

Flooding returned to the Orchard Homes area, primarily on Tower Street and Kehrwald Drive with water into homes, travel was also impacted. An important note is the previously established flood stage was much too high due to changes in channeling from the earlier flooding late Apr…

Multiple residences and structures in the Orchard Homes area, including those along Tower Street and Kehrwald Drive experienced flood damage. Flooding began the end of April 2018 and continued through June 12. The event altered the river channel to the extent flooding occurred we…

Besides the measured wind report, a spotter in Missoula reported hail sizes between dimes and quarters. Another interesting thing to note is the fact that Point 6 near 8,000 feet received a wind gust to 74 mph.

Several lodgepole pine trees were blown over and hail up to one inch were reported with this storm.

The Clark Fork River flooded low lying areas near the river between Missoula and Frenchtown.

The Bitterroot River near Missoula flooded again and this time reached 12 feet which caused some flooding of farmland and some roads along the river from Lolo to the confluence with the Clark Fork River. Groundwater adjacent to the Bitterroot River flooded Linda Vista Golf course…

The Bitterroot River near Missoula reached flood stage and caused flooding in low-lying areas and contributed to high groundwater near the Linda Vista and lower Miller creek areas.