Hurricane Force Winds, Thunderstorms Slam West Central Montana

The Missoula area, the Bitterroot Valley, and other areas of West Central Montana were slammed by severe thunderstorms Wednesday evening, downing lines and trees and starting fires.

The National Weather Service had been tracking the storm for several hours as the cells began moving across Idaho.

Around 8:30 pm NWS issued a warning of severe thunderstorms moving into the Northern Bitterroot and Missoula Valley, and when the weather came it hit hard, with pounding winds, lots of lightning, and heavy rain.

One of the strongest windstorms in several years

Forecasters are still analyzing data, but winds appeared to be gusting 50 to 60 miles per hour. At one point, NWS reported a gust hitting 81 miles per hour at the forecast center at the Missoula Montana Airport.

Additionally, forecasters tell us they reported a gusting hitting 120 miles per hour at the top of Mount Sentinel.

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The winds ripped through Lolo and Miller Creek, knocking down trees and power lines. Then the storm blasted across Missoula and moved into East Missoula, kicking up a major dust storm and debris.

Lightning strikes were expected to total several hundred in the Missoula area.

Damage everywhere

Missoula area fire and police crews were kept busy responding to a rapid-fire succession of reports of downed power lines and trees, with multiple wildfire starts. At one point, firefighters were called out to stop a structure fire in East Missoula that was threatening other homes.

Missoula Electric Coop was reporting several hundred people without power from Lolo to Missoula to Superior and in Seeley Lake.

Northwestern Energy was also reporting several thousand customers without power in the Missoula and Bitterroot service areas.

Storm moved NE

The storm was continuing to move northeast toward the Upper Blackfoot, the Front, and Great Falls area before 10 pm.