Harmon’s Histories: Few Missoula storms compare to hurricane-worthy outburst
By Jim Harmon
“The terrible storm seems to have done a great amount of damage. Hundreds of large green pine trees were uprooted and laid prostrate. Fences were blown down. The bridge to the Bitter Root valley was moved downstream three feet ... and unless soon repaired will be a total loss.”
The year was 1873 – and that storm report is one of only a handful of historical headlines we could find that would be even slightly comparable to the winds that devastated Missoula last week.
“The winds blew like blue blazes for about a half hour ... and Mr. Barry, the architect of Mr. Frank Woody’s villa, was blown from the roof of that edifice, gently and sleepily landing on terra firma some distance off ... no bones broken.”
On August 20, 1894, at 6:10 p.m. “a terrific wind storm came up from the south and for about five minutes, tin cans, paper and other debris were hurled through the streets in intricate confusion.”
“A number of dead trees in the yard at Miss Maria Higgins’ residence were uprooted. A large tree near the Rattlesnake bridge was blown down and fell over the telegraph wires, pulling them to the ground.”
“The storm played a strange prank with the roof of the Bennett opera house. Mr. Hartley, the lessee, had been contemplating removing a portion of this roof in order to enlarge the stage of the theater.”
“The wind in this case performed a beneficial service for that gentleman; it tore up a strip of the tin thirty four feet wide along the building, exactly the width he contemplated removing, saving him some expense.”
Another storm made headlines in 1919 – but again, nothing comparable to 2024.
“Severe, intermittent gusts of wind damaged some (trees). At the Malone fruit ranch west of Woodside, it is estimated that three percent of the apples unpicked, lay on the ground.”
In 1921, winds of “at least 50 mph” swept through the Missoula valley, “filling the air with dust, leaves and sand” and stripping apples from trees in orchards on the west side of town.
Luckily, most of the downed apples were salvageable, and that “kept packers busy in order to move the apples before freezing weather comes.”
In 1922, the Missoulian newspaper reported “sheets of hail, driven by a heavy gale from the west, centered on Missoula and vicinity, resulting in the destruction of several thousands of dollars worth of property.”
The mid-afternoon rain and hail storm lasted but a half hour, but still flooded the downtown area and damaged a number of businesses.
In the residential areas, windows were broken and “shade trees were stripped of foliage and flowers and shrubbery were damaged.”
The heaviest hit area was Orchard Homes. There, “strawberry plants were literally pounded into the ground,” although fruit trees were only slightly damaged.
To the north, Arlee reported heavy winds and some hail. Ronan and Charlo were missed, but areas north of Polson were hard-hit, where locals said it was “the most terrific” storm they’d seen in years.
Mount Jumbo appeared to be covered with ice for a short time after the storm, but the hail quickly melted in the sunshine that soon returned.
“Many windows at Bonner were shattered before the storm swept up the Blackfoot.”
In more recent years, Missoulians remember the great storm of 1994.
The National Weather Service clocked winds at a record-setting 76 miles per hour.
In Plains, a weather observer was said to have recorded a gust of 110 mph. In Troy there was a report of a roof blown off a building.
Still, those are all “exceptions.” Missoula doesn’t even make the list of the windiest cities in Montana.
If you want to impress your friends with your weather knowledge, you can quote from recent research done by the Great Falls Tribune.
Here’s their list of Montana’s windiest cities:
Jim Harmon is a longtime Missoula news broadcaster, now retired, who writes a weekly history column for Missoula Current. You can contact Jim at fuzzyfossil187@gmail.com. His best-selling book, “The Sneakin’est Man That Ever Was,” a collection of 46 vignettes of Western Montana history, is available at harmonshistories.com.