Storm not as bad as feared

As the area approaches the first anniversary of the July 4 hail and windstorm that caused millions of dollars of damage to the area, there were predictions over the weekend that another storm might be headed to the region.

The National Weather Service Friday warned that there would be severe thunderstorms and hail, but, for the most part, Hill County avoided the storms.

Areas to the east did sustain wind damage.

Saturday night, winds up to 50 mph hit Loma in Chouteau County, headed northeast to the Parker School community on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation and turned east until it socked Hays, the warning coordinator meteorologist for National Weather Service in Great Falls Megan Syner said. No serious damage was reported, however.

In Havre, only .05 inches of rain was reported and less than half that in Chinook, she said.

On Sunday, heavy winds again hit Blaine County, causing downed tree branches which apparently prompted a brief power outage that affected about 1,200 customers in Harlem, Fort Belknap and Dodson.