Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 25, 1991Cascade County, Chouteau County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 25, 1991, 4:01 PM MDT for Cascade County, Chouteau County, Montana. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 25, 1991, 4:01 PM MDT (22:01 UTC)
Expired
Jun 25, 1991, 5:00 PM MDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cascade County, MT, Chouteau County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Great Falls, MT (KGTF), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 33 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 1991-06-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 25 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 1991-06-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 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
25 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
832 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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 252203
TORGTF
MTC013-015-252300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
401 PM MDT TUE JUN 25 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...CASCADE COUNTY...WESTERN CHOUTEAU COUNTY
 
THIS WARNING SUPERCEDES AND EXPANDS THE PREVIOUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
WARNING. THUNDERSTORMS...WITH HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND STRONG WINDS
HAVE BEEN OBSERVED NEAR THE TOWN OF CASCADE. FUNNEL CLOUDS...AND
TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STROMS.
 
RADAR AND SATELLITE REPORTS INDICATE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING
SOUTHWEST OF GREAT FALLS MOVING NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 25 MPH.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS...TORNADOES...OR FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE OCCURRING...PEOP
SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T
USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL
THE STORM HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSS

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, Jun 25, 12:55 PM MDT, 3 hours 6 minutes before
MTZ004-252000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HELENA MT
1256 PM MDT TUE JUN 25 1991

THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP IN SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA
THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDER IS BEING HEARD IN BUTTE FROM A STORM
THAT IS TO THE WEST OF THE CITY.  THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 12 MILES AN HOUR. MISSOULA RADAR CLASSIFIES THIS STORM AS
STRONG.  LIGHTNING DETECTION CHARTS SHOW THIS STORM
PRODUCING ABOUT 20 STRIKES IN THE PAST HALF HOUR.  OTHER
THUNDERSTORMS ARE GROWING IN THE VICINITY OF HELENA.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AS THE AFTERNOON GOES ON.
IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THEY COULD PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND
LIGHTNING.  TRAVELERS AND PEOPLE INVOLVED IN OUTDOOR INTERESTS
SHOULD MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER MEDIA TO KEEP UPDATED
ON THE WEATHER.
Special weather statement, Jun 25, 2:09 PM MDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
MTZ004-252115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HELENA MT
211 PM MDT TUE JUN 25 1991

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE REACHED THE HELENA VALLEY. THEY ARE PRODUCING
LIGHT SHOWERS AT THE HELENA AIRPORT AND SOUTH WINDS TO 23 MPH.
THERE HAVE BEEN SOME LIGHTNING STRIKES BUT NOT MANY.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 12 MPH.

OTHER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA BUT
RADAR SHOWS THEM BEING OF LIGHT INTENSITY.
Special weather statement, Jun 25, 3:10 PM MDT, 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
3:05 PM MDT TUE JUN 25 1991

A WEATHER OBSERVER AT SUN RIVER REPORTED 1/2 INCH SIZE HAIL SHORTLY
AFTER 3 PM MDT. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS ALSO PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS.
THE OBSERVER COMMENTED THAT THE STORM APPEARED TO BE INTENSIFYING.

THE SUN RIVER IS LOCATED ABOUT 10 MILE NORTH AND WEST OF GREAT FALLS.
THIS THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST. LIGTNING DETECTION CHARTS
VARIFY CLOUD TO GROUND CONTACT WITH THIS STORM.

IF YOU SEE ANY THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING, STAY INDOORS AND ALERT.
THIS IS NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME A SEVERE STORM AT THIS TIME.

WRC/END

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 25, 11:16 AM MDTTornado WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau29 min
Jun 25, 3:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes 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.