Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1990
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Billings, MT
NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at Aug 20, 1990, 5:12 PM MDT for Yellowstone County, Montana. It was in force for 33 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 20, 1990, 5:12 PM MDT (23:12 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 20, 1990, 5:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Billings, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
County Yellowstone County, MT
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
The nearest sounding before it
Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 245 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3639 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 80 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 97 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBIL 202313
TORBIL
MTC111-202345-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
512 PM MDT MON AUG 20 1990
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN THE STATE OF MONTANA
NORTHERN YELLOWSTONE...INCLUDING THE CITY OF BILLINGS
AT 504PM MDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED IN BILLINGS MONTANA. THE
THUNDERSTORM ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FUNNELCLOUD IS MOVING NORTH AT
30 MPH.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS IN
A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUN\D IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES...
TAKE COVER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
END/FORBESWhat 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
Special weather statement, Aug 20, 1:20 PM MDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before
WYZ005-202015- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHERIDAN WY 120 PM MDT MON AUG 20 1990 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH POSTED FOR NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING.. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SHERIDAN AND JOHNSON COUNTIES OF NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS MONDAY EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP OVER NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAIN AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. REMEMBER...A WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. PERSONS IN JOHNSON AND SHERIDAN COUNTIES SHOULD KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON THE SKY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF AN AP?PROACHING STORM...SEEK SAFE SHELTER. KRENZ
Special weather statement, Aug 20, 2:23 PM MDT, 2 hours 49 minutes before
WYZ004-005-202130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHERIDAN WY 222 PM MDT MON AUG 20 1990 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SHERIDAN AND JOHNSON COUNTIES OF NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING UNTIL 8 PM MDT... AT 115 PM MDT...RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTH OF SHERIDAN. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. OTHER STORMS WERE ALSO NOTED BUILDING OVER AND ALONG THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS. A FEW STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAIN AND DEADLY LIGHTNING THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY THIS EVENING. PERSONS IN SHERIDAN AND JOHNSON COUNTIES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES SEEK SAFE SHELTER. KRENZ
Special weather statement, Aug 20, 4:01 PM MDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before
WYZ004-005-202300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHERIDAN WY 400 PM MDT MON AUG 20 1990 ...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER AND NEAR THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING... AT 400 PM MDT...RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS IN JOHNSON...WASHAKIE AND SOUTHERN SHERIDAN COUNTIES. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAIN AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR JOHNSON AND SHERIDAN COUNTIES UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING. PERSONS ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING SHOULD KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON THE SKY FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A THUNDERSTORM...SEEK SAFE SHELTER. KRENZ
The office that day
Everything else NWS Billings, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 19, 8:50 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | BYZ | Golden Valley, Musselshell, Wheatland | 115 min |
| Aug 19, 10:54 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | BYZ | Musselshell, Yellowstone | 111 min |
| Aug 20, 12:53 AM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | BYZ | Golden Valley, Musselshell | 2 hr |
| Aug 20, 3:49 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BYZ | Stillwater | 56 min |
| Aug 20, 4:47 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BYZ | Golden Valley, Stillwater, Yellowstone | 58 min |
| Aug 20, 4:47 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BYZ | Musselshell | 58 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes in 1990
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.