The National Weather Service in Glasgow has confirmed that a small tornado touched down Wednesday night southeast of Glasgow near the town of Whatley.
The tornado is estimated to have touched down at 9:17 PM, and was on the ground for less than five minutes.
The damage path from the tornado was narrow, only 50 yards, and the track of the tornado was less than a mile. The tornado was rated EF-0 - the lowest level - with an estimated peak wind speed of 80 miles per hour.
In its brief time on the ground, the tornado damaged several buildings. A roof was lifted completely off a metal barn, and a nearby house had siding damage. Another home had minor roof damage, and a roof was lifted of a car port.
There were no reports of injuries.
Montana typically sees several tornadoes every year in the spring, particularly in the eastern part of the state. Unlike those in "Tornado Alley" in the central part of the country, most Montana tornadoes are relatively small and usually touch down in sparsely-populated areas – but not always.
Six people were injured and several homes and buildings were damaged by an EF-3 tornado in Baker in eastern Montana in June 2016. In 2017, a small tornado hit near Sidney in Richland County in eastern Montana, injuring one person and causing damage. In June 2010, a tornado hit Billings, causing significant damage to the MetraPark facility. Just several weeks later, two people were killed when a tornado struck a family ranch near Reserve in northeastern Montana.
Click here for a list of Montana tornadoes recorded between 1950 and 2012.
