Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Great Falls, MT

August 14, 1991Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 14, 1991, 3:08 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 52 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 14, 1991, 3:08 PM MDT (21:08 UTC)
Expired
Aug 14, 1991, 4:00 PM MDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Fergus County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Great Falls, MT (KGTF), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 158 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 1991-08-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 244 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 1991-08-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -27 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
244 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
832 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGTF 142108
SVRGTF
MTC027-045-142200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
308 PM MDT WED AUG 14 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...NORTHWESTERN FERGUS COUNTY...NORTHERN JUDITH BASIN COUNTY
 
AT 3 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN JUDITH
BASIN COUNTY JUST WEST AND NORTH OF THE TOWN OF STANFORD. THIS
THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING SLOWLY EAST AT AROUND 10 MILES AN HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMA/GING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
 
GRAHAM

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

Local storm report, Aug 14, 10:08 AM MDT, 5 hours before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS, MT
1007 AM MDT WED AUG 14 1991

...ALL DATA FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 13...

TIME            EVENT

528 PM MDT      REPORTS OF HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF SOFTBALLS IN THE
                BRADY AREA OF EASTERN PONDERA COUNTY RECEIVED BY
                CO-OP OBSERVER AT THE KNEES.  OTHER REPORTS OF SOFT
                BALL SIZE HAIL RECEIVED BY RADIO STATION KSEN AT
                APPROXIMATELY THE SAME TIME.

554 PM MDT      GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL FELL AT THE KNEES IN NORTHWEST
                CHOTEAU COUNTY.  HAIL BROKE A CAR`S WINDSHIELD.

730 PM MDT      .40 INCH OF RAIN FALLS AT FORT BENTON IN CHOTEAU
                COUNTY BETWEEN 710 AND 730 PM.

1035 PM MDT     MARBLE SIZE HAIL FALLS 10 MILES EAST OF BRADY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 13, 6:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau44 min
Aug 13, 6:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau2 hr
Aug 14, 3:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJudith Basin33 min
Aug 14, 4:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 1991Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1991

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.