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Damage Survey Results
Severe Weather Event in Glendive
June 14, 2006
 
Staff Participating in Survey:
Tom Salem (SOO)
Mark Pellerito (Met)
 
Date Completed: 15 June 2006
 
Discussion:
A line of severe thunderstorms roared through the Glendive area just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14. The next afternoon, National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists from the Weather Forecast Office in Glasgow conducted a storm survey to take record of damage, photos, and spotter accounts of the storm. The NWS team concluded that though there may have been funnel clouds in the area, all damage reviewed during a storm survey was caused by straight-line winds around 100 mph.
The team first surveyed damage sustained just north of downtown, along the east bank of the Yellowstone River. Two trees, the largest of which was a 44 year-old pine, were uprooted at a Meade Avenue residence. Both trees were pushed leaning northeast onto and partially through the exterior wall and roof of the house. Throughout this area of the city, there were numerous other trees and branches taken down by the storm.
Widespread damage was observed throughout the West Park area, across the Yellowstone River from downtown. Within the park, numerous trees and branches of about 1 to 2 feet in diameter were uprooted and snapped, with the damage facing almost exclusively southwest to northeast. Additionally, surface pieces of an old tennis court were found flaked off and scattered throughout the grass. Not far from the park, the roof of an auto shop sustained heavy damage, while much of the structure of the roof blew to the northeast off of the shop. Metal sheeting from the roof tangled into adjoining power lines, mainly running along the north side of the building.
On the southwest side of the Glendive area, a large, healthy tree with a 32-inch diameter trunk uprooted and fell through the corner of a residence just off of Towne Street. The main trunk entered through the wall and roof of the guest bedroom of the house, while the rest of the tree fell roughly southwest to northeast across the length of the rest of the roof. Farther southwest in the Berry subdivision, an entire garage of a residence appeared entirely dismantled by the winds. Pieces of wood were strewn to the north-northeast of the site, down a field as far as a half mile, with lighter elements such as shingles and insulation scattered farther from the site. The damage was all laid out in a straight line from the residence, through the field.
The southwest side of one of the hangars at the Dawson Community Airport was destroyed when large pieces of the exterior walls and sheet metal roofing were blown out. A small airplane and a classic car both sustained heavy damage. From the airport, two large towers, carrying main power lines on a ridge between Dry Creek and Highway 200-S, could be seen knocked down.
Finally, more damage was observed to garages and roofing on Highway 200-S a few miles west of town. Damage was most prevalent on the southwest-facing sides of the structures. Another large tree had also fallen down on a house in the Forest Park area. National Weather Service Doppler Radar that evening showed a severe single storm in the Miles City area, spreading out into a large line of severe thunderstorms as it passed over the Terry and through Glendive. The line had a distinct “arc” shape, with the front nose (or apex) of the arc of storms passing directly over Glendive. This radar signature itself is another classic sign of straight line winds. A spotter in Bloomfield measured a 96 mph wind gust from this storm, followed by a 91 mph gust recorded at 6:15 p.m. at the Dawson Community Airport. Twenty minutes later, the airport was still gusting to 75 mph with sustained winds remaining above 35 mph, again suggestive of sustained-duration, straight line winds.
In conclusion, every surveyed site featured a consistent southwest-to-northeast pattern of all uprooted trees, damage, and debris; indicating straight-line winds. Additionally, by locating all the damage sites on a map, it appeared that the damage was in no singular path. Instead, pockets of heavy damage were scattered throughout the Glendive area, suggesting a wide swath of straight line winds.

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