Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Billings, MT

May 11, 1995Big Horn County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at May 11, 1995, 12:46 PM MDT for Big Horn County, Montana. It was in force for 44 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 11, 1995, 12:46 PM MDT (18:46 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 1995, 1:30 PM MDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Big Horn County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Riverton, WY (KRIW), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 272 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, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 1995-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 1995-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1462 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
29 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 KBIL 111848
TORBIL
MTC003-111930-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
1246 PM MDT THU MAY 11 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BILLINGS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...SOUTHERN BIG HORN COUNTY
 
AT 1245 PM MDT...A SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
LODGE GRASS...OR ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HARDIN. THE TORNADO WAS
MOVING EAST ABOUT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS STORM WILL ARRIVE IN THE VICINITY OF KIRBY AT ABOUT 110 PM MDT.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDYX 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.
 
 
CHB

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 11, 12:40 PM MDT, 6 minutes before
MTZ007-111945-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
1237 PM MDT THU MAY 11 1995

AT 12:33 PM MDT...A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SPOTTED IN THE WOLF MOUNTAINS EAST
OF LODGE GRASS IN SOUTH CENTRAL BIG HORN COUNTY.

BILLINGS WEATHER RADAR AT 1235 INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 70
MILES  SOUTHEAST OF BILLINGS JUST EAST OF LODGE GRASS.  THE STORM WAS
MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED UNTIL 130 PM MDT FOR NORTHERN SHERIDAN
COUNTY WHICH INCLUDES THE CITY OF SHERIDAN.

PEOPLE IN SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA SHOULD BE ALERT TO DEVELOPING
THUNDERSTORMS AND BE READY FOR QUICK APPROPRIATE ACTION SHOULD A TORNADO
WARNING BE ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE.@

CHB

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

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.