Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 1988, 5:42 PM MDT for Chouteau County, Hill County, Liberty County, Montana. It was in force for 33 min. 2 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
- Jul 5, 1988, 5:42 PM MDT (23:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 5, 1988, 6:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Great Falls, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Chouteau County, MT, Hill County, MT, Liberty 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 5:45 PM MDT | Tornado F3 | Chouteau, MT | |
| Jul 5, 5:45 PM MDT | Tornado F3 | Chouteau, 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 113 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 133 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -358 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 830 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 123 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 137 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 5, 1:43 PM MDT, 3 hours 59 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS, MT
141 PM MDT TUE JUL 05 1988
DATE/TIME DESCRIPTION
7/5 1930Z 8-10 MILES W OF HLN 1 INCH HAIL REPORTED
BY RELIABLE OBSERVER. DAMAGED CARS .48 INCH
IN DOWNPOUR.Local storm report, Jul 5, 3:46 PM MDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>Local storm report, Jul 5, 5:28 PM MDT, 14 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>Special weather statement, Jul 5, 5:34 PM MDT, 8 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 1:51 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade | 69 min |
| Jul 5, 2:23 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Teton | 52 min |
| Jul 5, 2:58 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau | 62 min |
| Jul 5, 3:53 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Hill, Liberty | 67 min |
| Jul 5, 4:01 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau | 44 min |
| Jul 5, 4:09 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Hill | 66 min |
| Jul 5, 5:10 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Blaine | 65 min |
| Jul 5, 5:13 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau, Hill, Liberty | 62 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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.