HELENA — Montana averages only about ten tornadoes a year. And last Thursday, there was a tornado on the ground near Townsend. And a second tornado on the ground near East Helena and a few other funnel clouds, all in one afternoon. It was a historic day for severe weather.
On Thursday afternoon, shortly after 5 p.m., the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of Broadwater and Ma counties for this funnel cloud that was spotted by people in the Grassy Mountain area near Deep Creek Pass.
A funnel cloud is not a tornado, but could become one if it touches the ground. That was the beginning of what would be an exceptionally wild next few hours. That tornado warning expired, but it got people's attention in the area. A viewer just a few miles east of Townsend looked out of the sky and saw this tornado on the ground up near Sandhill Lane.
This tornado was likely either an EF zero or an F one. A weak tornado, but still a tornado. F0 is for wind between 65 and 85mph. They could damage roofs, fences, and trees. An EF one tornado has wind between 86 and 110mph, which could be strong enough to overturn a mobile home and do more damage.
Approximately an hour later, several viewers emailed and messaged the station about seeing what they believed were funnel clouds around East Helena. There were no tornado warnings for this instance, but strong thunderstorms were displaying powerful and erratic behavior. And then this. A viewer took this video while driving on State Highway 518. That's the road between East Helena and Montana City.
This is looking out past the new rodeo grounds beyond McLellan Creek Road. Another viewer from Mountain View Meadows took a video showing a funnel, likely rain-wrapped, making it more difficult to see, but clearly another tornado. Fortunately, there were no injuries as these tornadoes churned out in open fields away from homes that could have been significantly damaged. Tornadoes are rare in Montana, as some counties have never even officially recorded any occurrence since 1950.
There have only been three confirmed tornadoes in the Helena area. On Thursday, there were two more.
