Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 28, 1988Glacier County, Pondera County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 28, 1988, 3:39 PM MDT for Glacier County, Pondera County, Montana. It was in force for 66 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jun 28, 1988, 3:39 PM MDT (21:39 UTC)
Expired
Jun 28, 1988, 4:45 PM MDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Glacier County, MT, Pondera County, MT

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 28, 4:44 PM MDTHail 1.75Pondera, MT
Jun 28, 4:44 PM MDTHail 1.75Pondera, MT
Jun 28, 4:45 PM MDTHail 0.75Glacier, MT

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Great Falls, MT (KGTF), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 147 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Great Falls, MT at 12:00Z on 1988-06-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 62 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Great Falls, MT at 12:00Z on 1988-06-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
62 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-134 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1380 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KGTF 282142 COR
SVRGTF
MTC035-073-282245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
339 PM MDT TUE JUN 28 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF MONTANA
      GLACIER...WESTERN PONDERA...CITY OF CUT BANK

AT 330PM MDT GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT EAST GLACIER...TO
THE SOUTHWEST OF BROWNING MT. THIS STORM WAS PART OF A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN GLACIER AND PONDERA
COUNTIES.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORECED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DA(MAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND LIGHTNING.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
A TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. BE ON THE LOOKOUT.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 28, 2:58 PM MDT, 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS, MT
300 PM MDT TUE JUN 28 1988

AT 3PM MDT RADAR AND SATELLITE PICTURES INDICATED A LINE OF PROBABLE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR KALISPELL TO EAST OF MISSOULA SOUTH TO
NEAR SALMON IDAHO. ONE STORM IN THIS LINE PRODUCED TWO INCH HAIL IN
THE WEST PART OF MISSOULA ABOUT 2PM THIS AFTERNOON. INDIVIDUAL CELLS
WERE MOVING NORTH ABOUT 30 MPH WHILE THE LINE MOVES SLOWLY EAST.

A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA BETWEEN
GREAT FALLS BOZEMAN AND HARLOWTON. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
LIKELY PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY SHOWERS. THESE STORMS ALSO WERE
MOVING NORTH ABOUT 30 MPH.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF WESTERN
MONTANA UNTIL 8PM MDT THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO AND TV
OR YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO RECEIVERS FOR THE LATEST WARNINGS OR
STATEMENTS.
END
DP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 28, 4:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Teton36 min
Jun 28, 5:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXPondera, Toole59 min
Jun 28, 5:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGlacier, Pondera55 min
Jun 28, 5:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXTeton55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.