Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 26, 1992Chouteau County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1992, 4:18 PM MDT for Chouteau County, Montana. It was in force for 57 min. 1 report 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
Jun 26, 1992, 4:18 PM MDT (22:18 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1992, 5:15 PM MDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Chouteau County, MT

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 26, 5:00 PM MDTTornado F0Chouteau, 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 79 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 1992-06-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 281 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 1992-06-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
281 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-137 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1710 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 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 262225 COR
TORGTF
MTC013-015-262315-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
418 PM MDT FRI JUN 26 1992

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

   ...WESTERN CHOUTEAU COUNTY

A WEATHER SPOTTER IN WESTERN CHOUTEAU COUNTY REPORTED A TORNADO ON
THE GROUND AROUND 4 PM.  THE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING THIS TORNADO
IS MOVING SLOWLY TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST.

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, Jun 26, 11:54 AM MDT, 4 hours 24 minutes before
MTZ004-252000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HELENA MT
NOON MDT FRI JUN 26 1992

..STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORMING OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA...

AT NOON PM MDT...WEATHER RADAR WAS INDICATING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM
FORMING ALONG THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE IN NORTH CENTRAL LEWIS AND CLARK
COUNTY OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA.  THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS NORTH OF ROGERS
PASS JUST ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF THE SCAPEGOAT WILDERNESS AREA OF
THE HELENA NATIONAL FOREST.  ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM HAD FORMED JUST SOUTH
OF RIMINI ALONG THE SOUTHERN TIP OF LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST
MONTANA. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR RED MOUNTAIN IN THE HELENA NATIONAL
FOREST AS WELL.

BOTH THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES.
PERSONS OUTDOORS SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY FROM THE DEADLY
LIGHTNING.
<
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO FORM THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS SOUTHWEST
MONTANA.

THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL DUE TO THE SLOW
MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS AND THE HEAVY MOISTURE IN THE ATMOSPHERE.
ADDITIONALLY STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

PERSONS NEAR THE CITY OF RIMINI AND ALSO NORTH OF ROGERS PASS
...BOTH IN LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY OF SOUTHWEST MONTANA...SHOULD
BE AWARE OF POSSIBLE STREAM FLOODING OR PONDING OF WATER ON
ROADWAYS.

MHOON
Special weather statement, Jun 26, 2:09 PM MDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
MTZ004-252200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HELENA MT
2:00 PM MDT FRI JUN 26 1992

..THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO FORM OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA...

AT 2 PM MDT...WEATHER RADAR WAS INDICATING AREAS OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS SOUTHWEST MONTANA.  THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED IN AREA ALONG
THE CONTINETAL DIVIDE FROM NEAR HEART BUTTE...WHICH IS NEAR THE BORDER
OF THE BLACKFOOT INDIAN RESERVATION...SOUTH ALONG THE DIVIDE TO
JUST NORTH OF BOULDER IN JEFFERSON COUNTY...IN THE ELKHORN MOUNTAINS OF
THE HELENA NATIONAL FOREST.

ALL THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES.
PERSONS OUTDOORS SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY FROM THE DEADLY
LIGHTNING.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING VERY SLOWLY. ANY RAINFALL WITH THUNDERSTORMS
COULD BE HEAVY IN ONE AREA BECAUSE OF THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS.
STORMS MAY DEVELOP TO BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO PRODUCE EITHER HAIL
OR STRONG GUSTY WINDS LATER THIS AFTERNOO:N.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO FORM THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS
SOUTHWEST MONTANA.

MHOON
Special weather statement, Jun 26, 3:53 PM MDT, 25 minutes before
MTZ003-262300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
345 PM MDT FRI JUN 26 1992

A WEATHER OBSERVER 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF GREAT FALLS IN WESTERN
CHOUTEAU COUNTY REPORTED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM AROUND 330 PM MDT.
THE STORM PRODUCED VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND MARBLE SIZE HAIL.

RADAR INDICATES THAT THIS THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING VERY SLOWLY TO THE
SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 10 MPH.  THIS STORM WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE
HEAVY RAINFZALL FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS WHICH COULD CAUSE SOME LOCAL
FLOODING OF ROADWAYS.

IF DRIVING INTO ANY OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON BE PREPARED
FOR LOW VISIBILITY DUE TO THE HEAVY RAINFALL.
SIMS

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes in 1992

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.