Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Great Falls, MT

May 28, 1990Cascade County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1990, 4:33 PM MDT for Cascade County, Montana. It was in force for 27 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 28, 1990, 4:33 PM MDT (22:33 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1990, 5:00 PM MDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Cascade 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 (KGTF), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 19 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 1990-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Great Falls, MT at 12:00Z on 1990-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
854 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 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 282233
TORGTF
MTC013-282300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
433 PM MDT MON MAY 28 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...NORTHERN CASCADE COUNTY
 
AT 430PM MDT TIME A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS OBSERVED OVER THE CITY OF GREAT
FALLS.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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

Special weather statement, May 28, 4:09 PM MDT, 24 minutes before
MTZ003-290000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
410 PM MDT MON MAY 28 1990

THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN HAD DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHERN CASCADE
COUNTY AT 4PM MDT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ONLY SLOWLY TO
THE NORTH AND WILL CAUSE HEAVY RAINS OVER THE GREAT FALLS AREA DURING
THE NEXT COUPLE HOURS.

SOME FLOODING OF STREETS AND UNDERPASSES MAY OCCUR IN GREAT FALLS AS
THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE SLOWLY NORTHWARD THIS AFTERNOON. IN ADDITION
RESIDENTS NEAR THE SMALLER CREEKS AND STREAMS SHOULD WATCH FOR RISING
WATER AND POSSIBLE FLOODING IF HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE.

END
PATERSON

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.