Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 29, NWS Missoula, MT

July 29, 1996Silver Bow County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 29, 1996, 3:18 PM MDT for Silver Bow County, Montana. It was in force for 57 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 29, 1996, 3:18 PM MDT (21:18 UTC)
Expired
Jul 29, 1996, 4:15 PM MDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Silver Bow County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 162 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:19 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 234 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 1996-07-29Temperature 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 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 1996-07-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -44 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
2514 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-5 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 KMSO 292118
SVRMSO
MTC093-292215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
318 PM MDT MON JUL 29 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA
 
   ...SILVER BOW COUNTY
 
AT 315 PM MDT...MISSOULA DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
IN CENTRAL SILVER BOW COUNTY...2 MILES WEST OF BUTTE. THE STORM IS
MOVING VERY SLOWLY AND WILL AFFECT THE CITY OF BUTTE THROUGH 400 PM MDT.
EARLIER STORMS IN THIS AREA PRODUCED 1 INCH HAIL AND OVER 1/2 INCH OF
RAIN IN 20 MINUTES.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
END/BARKER

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.

NWS Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 29, 1:30 PM MDT, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 1:30 PM MDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
CONVECTION FIRING ALONG CONVERGENCE LINE IN THE CENTER OF THE THERMAL
TROUGH RUNNING FROM ABOUT MULLAN TO BETWEEN MISSOULA AND HAMILTON AND
THEN SOUTH OF BUTTE. PLENTY OF MOISTURE SOUTH OF THIS LINE AND WISDOM
JUST GOT 1 INCH HAIL. THIS AXIS MOVES VERY SLOWLY EAST TONIGHT...AND
VORT MAX MOVES OUT OF AREA BY EARLY TOMORROW...BUT LEAVES SUFFICIENT
MOISTURE AND LOTS OF INSTABILITY FOR A DECENT DAY OF THUNDER TOMORROW
AS WELL...ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH. WILL MAKE MAX POPS IN MONTANA ZONE
2 TONIGHT...AND WILL BACK OFF FOR TOMORROW AND IN THE NORTHWEST JUST
A BIT. BARKER.

FCA 2211 055/090/053/090
LIB 2211 057/086/055/086
POL 2222 060/086/055/086
MSO 3222 059/090/055/090
HMM 4322 056/091/053/091
FN/01

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 29, 12:35 PM MDT, 2 hours 43 minutes before
MTZ002-004-IDZ010-292130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
1230 PM MDT MON JUL 29 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP IN WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
   MONTANA...AND EAST CENTRAL IDAHO MOUNTAINS...

AT 1230 PM MDT DOPPLER RADAR...SATELLITE IMAGERY...AND AUTOMATED
LIGHTING DETECTION EQUIPMENT INDICATE THAT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ARE BEGINNING TO BUILD OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF WEST CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST MONTANA...AND THE EAST CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF IDAHO.  THESE
STORMS ARE MAINLY SOUTH OF A LINE RUNNING FROM STEVENSVILLE TO
BUTTE...AND ARE MOVING ONLY VERY SLOWLY TO THE NORTH.

THE STORMS IN MONTANA ARE OCCURRING OVER AREAS WITH VERY DRY AIR AT
THE LOW LEVELS...AND THEY WILL LIKELY BRING GUSTY WINDS TO AREAS OF
SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MONTANA OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.  THE
STORMS FURTHER SOUTH IN IDAHO HAVE DEEPER MOISTURE TO WORK WITH...AND
HEAVY RAINFALL IS A POSSIBILITY WITH THESE STORMS.  AS THE AFTERNOON
PROGRESSES...THE DEEPER MOISTURE WILL WORK ITS WAY INTO MONTANA
BRINGING THE POSSIBILITY OF HEAVY RAINFALL INTO THIS AREA AS WELL
LATER THIS EVENING.

ALL THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL. IF
THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH YOUR AREA...SEEK SHELTER INDOORS.  REMEMBER
THAT LIGHTNING CAN KILL.  STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES ON THESE
STORMS.

END/BARKER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 29, 1:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOBeaverhead, Deer Lodge, Silver Bow65 min
Jul 29, 4:26 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMSOSilver Bow3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.