Terry, MT Hail Storm – July 2025

What Happened

A hail storm moved through Terry, MT on July 25, 2025, with the strongest reports reaching 1.25 inches and a later radar-derived alert confirming the same size in the evening. The storm produced multiple warning-area alerts from 4:31 PM MDT through 6:38 PM MDT.

The first alert at 4:31 PM MDT carried a 1.25-inch hail call with radar and spotter-verified confidence. Two minutes later, at 4:33 PM MDT, the warning area was updated for 1-inch hail on the same confidence basis. Additional alerts followed at 5:21 PM MDT and 5:52 PM MDT, both carrying 1-inch hail estimates with radar and spotter verification. A final 6:38 PM MDT alert again reached 1.25 inches, this time from dual-polarization radar.

Spotter reports lined up with that sequence. One report from 5:10 PM MDT, taken about 5 miles south of Terry, said hail started at 5:10 and the storm had largely passed by 5:30, with 0.17 inches of rain and smaller hail. Three separate reports logged at 5:36 PM MDT described rainfall at or below 0.10 inches and measured 1.75-inch hail, all spotter-verified. The reports show a storm that carried a narrow swath of larger stones through the Terry area over the late afternoon and early evening.

Damage Assessment

The field reports point to concentrated hail impact rather than a broad wind event. The 5:10 PM MDT report south of Terry described smaller hail mixed with light rain as the storm moved through. By 5:36 PM MDT, multiple spotter reports documented 1.75-inch hail and very light rainfall, which indicates a brief but intense hail core in the warning area.

The radar and spotter record do not show a uniform hail field across the full alert area. They show separate pulses of hail estimates, with the strongest verified field measurements clustering near Terry during the same afternoon window. The 1-inch report south of town and the later 1.75-inch reports suggest changing hail size within a short period as the storm evolved.

No widespread structural damage reports were included in the source data. The available evidence centers on hail size, timing, and the path through the Terry area. For most properties in this event, the main concern is roof, soft-metal, and vehicle exposure along the storm path rather than wind-driven debris.

What Contractors Should Know

This event in Terry calls for close inspection of roofs, gutters, downspouts, window trim, and vehicles in the storm path. The sequence of alerts shows hail potential across several hours, not a single brief burst. Crews should expect isolated heavy impact on one side of a neighborhood or farmstead while nearby properties show less obvious damage.

Pay attention to the southern approach into Terry. The 5-mile-south spotter report places the storm on that side of town early in the event, then later reports show larger hail during the 5:36 PM MDT window. That pattern supports a targeted canvass along the likely east-west travel corridor through and just south of town.