Rain, wind and hail hit Western Montana
Posted: Jul 31, 2010 5:41 PM
Updated: Jul 31, 2010 10:10 PM
MISSOULA -Saturday's storms brought heavy, localized, rain along with winds and in many parts of Western Montana, hail. A NWS trained spotter reported seeing quarter inch-size hail in the Lolo Creek area at around 6:30 p.m. At around the same time, a Missoula Amateur Radio Operator told of 1" in diameter hail in Missoula.
Around 40 minutes later, A NWS spotter told of penny to nickel-size hail hitting in the Hot Springs area of Sanders County. One inch-size hail was also reported to the National Weather Service in Missoula from just north of Florence.
The National Weather Service also received reports of hail estimated at ¾ inch between Darby and Hamilton at around 2 p.m. on Saturday.
And a NWS spotter near Dixon reported qaurter-sized hail with some larger pieces mixed in just before 5:30 p.m. in Sanders County.
Hail was also reported in the Polson area from a storm which hit around 6 p.m. (thanks to Vernon Finley and Melanilyn Good for porviding us with pictures).
Finally, a 50 mph wind gust, rain and nickle-size hail was reported at the Sula Lookout Station, which sits at nearly 6,200 feet in Ravalli County. Heavy rain in hail was also reported north east of Sula by a trained spotter.
