Ashton Beck

EDITOR'S NOTE:Do you have a dramatic story about surviving a Montana storm? We would love to hear about it. Email your story (550 words or less) to tribfeatures@greatfallstribune.com and include any photos or videos you might have, and we will include it in an upcoming story. The deadline is June 24.

I got a lesson in respect last Thursday afternoon when I ended up trapped in my 2005 Hyundai Elantra just a few miles from Jordan on Highway 200.

Earlier, at a rest stop, the National Weather Service announcement predicted severe thunderstorms producing 60 mph winds and decent-sized hail in northeast Montana in a bunch of counties I hadn’t heard of. I’m a Minnesota native and just moved to Montana in September. With no service, I had no way to check where I was.

The storm warning was for such a large window of time and geographic area though, so I wasn’t too worried. I continued on my path under bright blue skies.

Fifty to 60 miles later, the wind came. I was reminded of what the robot voice from the weather service had talked about.

Suddenly I heard ‘ting ting ting’ as little bits of hail started falling. Within a minute a golf ball-sized hail hit the road.

The next one hit my windshield and produced a crack the size of a basketball. I parked in time to hear ‘CRACK’ against my driver’s window. Within seconds the sound of broken glass filled my ear – along with actual glass. Ice projectiles were now flying past my face so fast I could barely see them. I felt pain all over my body as I got pelted with hail like a nerd in dodge ball.

It was act fast or die, so I frantically crawled into my backseat. The rear windshield was busted by now and hail was invading my car from all angles. I grabbed my luggage and held it over my face and waited for the storm to pass.

Fifteen minutes later, skies were blue and my car a goner. I was bleeding from the shards of glass, sore from hail and in disbelief that I was alive.

In my extra-ventilated car I was forced to drive back to Great Falls. About 30 miles down the road, I saw a gorgeously shaped storm cloud. Assuming that there was NO WAY there could be another hail storm that close, I continued. Ha, mistake! Wind, rain, and hail hit me within minutes.

There was a country store a few miles back, so I turned around, now exposed to the elements with no window. I drove like a maniac with one and a half windshield wipers going full speed and my left arm up shielding my face. Once in the parking lot, I ran toward the store to take shelter when the storm caught up and reminded me how great hail feels on my head.

With sympathy from strangers and a car full of broken glass and wet seats — and surprisingly some glass in my teeth — I commenced my drive home. Luckily the radio still worked or I would have been really depressed.

Coming over a hill on my breezy drive home, I noticed the sky was painted with some of the most vibrant colors I’d seen in a long time.

I realized that I hadn’t been giving Montana the respect it deserves. I had been enjoying its beauty, but I hadn’t been respecting its raw power.

Montana is still a wild state. It will remind you about it if you get too comfortable.

Ashton Beck is a digital sales executive at the Great Falls Tribune.

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