Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Billings, MT

July 15, 1995Powder River County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 15, 1995, 4:59 PM MDT for Powder River County, Montana. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 15, 1995, 4:59 PM MDT (22:59 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1995, 5:38 PM MDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Powder River County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Rapid City, SD (KRAP), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 262 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, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 1995-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 268 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, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 1995-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
268 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1137 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 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 152302
TORBIL
MTC075-160000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
459 PM MDT SAT JUL 15 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BILLINGS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA
 
   ...EAST CENTRAL POWDER RIVER COUNTY
 
AT 4:58 PM MDT, RAPID CITY WEATHER RADAR INDICATED THE POSSIBILITY OF A
TORNADO IN EASTERN POWDER RIVER COUNTY, SOUTHEAST OF THE TOWN OF
BROADUS.  THIS STORM IS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT ABOUT 20 MPH.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM AND MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE HAIL,
DESTRUCTIVE WINDS, AND HEAVY RAIN.
 
 
 
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.
 
 
POHL/RICHMOND

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, Jul 15, 4:52 PM MDT, 7 minutes before
WYZ050-051-160000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHERIDAN WY
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
452 PM MDT SAT JUL 15 1995

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER FAR NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING
AT 445 PM...

THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF SHERIDAN...
OR NEAR PARKMAN AND RANCHESTER.  ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED
ABOUT 10 TO 20 MILES NORTH OF SHERIDAN...RIGHT ALONG THE MONTANA
BORDER.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST/SOUTHEAST AT ABOUT 25 MPH.

PEOPLE IN THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN PART OF SHERIDAN COUNTY SHOULD BE
ALERT TO STORMS IN YOUR AREA.  HAIL...GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN
WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS...SO STAY INDOORS UNTIL THEY PASS
ON BY.

WCJIN-WYNE
JAD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 3:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZBig Horn61 min
Jul 15, 5:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZBig Horn, Rosebud65 min

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.