Photos and videos of the damage from a severe storm that battered Missoula, Montana, on Wednesday night have surfaced across social media.
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Missoula issued a slew of severe weather-related warnings on Wednesday night as an exceptionally strong storm rolled through the region. Meteorologists urged people to take shelter immediately as a cluster of thunderstorms with a history of producing wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour approached the city.
The winds ended up being documented with much stronger winds than warned, with one gust at Mount Sentinel peaking at 109 miles per hour, the strength of a Category 2 hurricane. Winds peaked at 81 miles per hour at the NWS office in Missoula, NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist Marty Whitmore told Newsweek.
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Thousands of Missoula residents woke to no power on Thursday morning as they surveyed the damage caused by the storm. Whitmore said the strong winds were "very uncommon" for the area.
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"Hurricane force winds on land? That's nuts," one person posted on X, formerly Twitter. "Hoping for a speedy recovery for the area."
"my neighbors shed flew into our other neighbors shed and was about 4 feet away from getting me a new car," another person posted on X, including a photo of the wreckage.
my neighbors shed flew into our other neighbors shed and was about 4 feet away from getting me a new car pic.twitter.com/tTSupmTpCH
— 🦕 (@Umbreonbest) July 25, 2024
"Big storm in Missoula tonight! 106 mph winds recorded. It's a good reminder, we live in some real mountains that do some real mountain [s***] from time to time," user Black Coffee Roasting Co. posted with a video of trees whipping back and forth in the wind.
Big storm in Missoula tonight! 106 mph winds recorded. It’s a good reminder, we live in some real mountains that do some real mountain sh*t from time to time. pic.twitter.com/ksT4qdNeg7
— Black Coffee Roasting Co. (@BlackCoffeeMsla) July 25, 2024
"Missoula, Montana just got ripped by a storm front. Limbs and whole trees down all over," one user said, including a video of leaves and debris whipping through the air from the wind.
Missoula, Montana just got ripped by a storm front. Limbs and whole trees down all over #MTwx pic.twitter.com/PF30tJE6oO
— Cory Reppenhagen (@CReppWx) July 25, 2024
Massive storm here in Missoula last night pic.twitter.com/IuTw5LGgop
— Patrick R. Secor (@PRSecor) July 25, 2024
Other pictures from the area showed uprooted and snapped trees and downed power poles.
More than 12,000 people in Missoula remained without power on Thursday morning at 10:45 a.m. EST time, according to a map from poweroutage.us.
Winds associated with a Category 2 hurricane are classified as "extremely dangerous" that can cause "extensive damage", according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Whitmore said that meteorologists knew days ahead of time that the thunderstorms would produce strong winds. Gusts reached 65 miles per hour as the storm moved through east-central Oregon, Whitmore said.
"Anytime you get above 60, we are certainly worried about damage beyond typical wind speeds," Whitmore said.
Fueled by the abnormally warm weather the region has experienced the past few weeks, the storm strengthened further when it moved into western Montana.
Whitmore said meteorologists are still assessing damage from the storm. As of Thursday morning, there were no storm-related weather alerts in place for western Montana where Missoula is located. Instead, meteorologists issued red flag warnings and a heat advisory as temperatures neared 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Whitmore warned that central Montana could see storms on Thursday.
In addition to weathering severe storms, Missoula also broke a daily temperature record on Wednesday.
"#Missoula broke the record daily high temperature for July 24th, coming in with a max temp of 102°. This breaks the old record daily high of 100° set in 1933," the NWS office in Missoula posted on X on Thursday morning.
#Missoula broke the record daily high temperature for July 24th, coming in with a max temp of 102°. This breaks the old record daily high of 100° set in 1933. #mtwx #Montana
— NWS Missoula (@NWSMissoula) July 25, 2024
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