Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 32, NWS Missoula, MT

August 1, 1996Missoula County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 1, 1996, 9:07 PM MDT for Missoula County, Montana. It was in force for 38 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
Aug 1, 1996, 9:07 PM MDT (03:07 UTC)
Expired
Aug 1, 1996, 9:45 PM MDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Missoula County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 5 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:07 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

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 00:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 201 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, Spokane, WA at 00:00Z on 1996-08-02Temperature 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, Spokane, WA at 00:00Z on 1996-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 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
3692 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 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 020309
SVRMSO
MTC063-020345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONALWEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
907 PM MDT THU AUG 1 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...                     ...

IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA

   ...EASTERN MISSOULA COUNTY

AT 907 MDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR IN THE
VICINITY OF BONNER. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE STORM
HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING THREE-QUARTER INCH HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...ANVD 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.


SULLIVAN

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 Aug 1, 7:55 PM MDT, 1 hour 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 1, 7:55 PM MDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
CONVECTION STILL GOING OVER MT ZONES 2/4...IDAHO ZONES 10/11.  MORE
STORMS FIRING OVER WEST CENTRAL ID AHEAD OF VORT MAX ROTATING THROUGH
CENTRAL OREGON. THESE STORMS SHOULD LOSE SOME OF THEIR PUNCH AFTER
SUNSET...BUT DO EXPECT SOME ACTIVITY TO LINGER OVER ZONES 2/4 INTO
EARLY TONIGHT. WILL BUMP UP POPS IN ZONE 2...MOST ACTIVITY IN ZONE 1
SHOULD BE CONFINED TO EXTREME SOUTH. LARGE UPPER TROF CONTINUES TO
DIG TOWARD PACIFIC NW. ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH
AREA BY 18Z...WITH BEST MOISTURE AND DYNAMICS FOLLOWING. LOOKS LIKE
COOL AND SHOWERY REGIME THROUGH SATURDAY. SFC DEWPOINTS FAIRLY HIGH
THIS EVENING AND WITH APPROACHING TROF...THINK MINS TONIGHT WILL BE
SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE LAST NIGHT. WILL RAISE A FEW DEGREES. SULLIVAN

FCA 1245 049/076/050/065
LIB 1345 048/075/048/064
POL 2244 056/078/054/066
MSO 3244 054/080/050/068
HMM 3233 055/082/050/070
FN/11

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 1, 3:42 PM MDT, 5 hours 25 minutes before
MTZ001-002-004-IDZ009-010-011-020600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
335 PM MDT (235 PM PDT) THU AUG 1 1996

...A COLD WEEKEND ON ITS WAY...

A QUITE COLD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL PUSH
INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST OVER THE WEEKEND. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE
THROUGH NORTHERN IDAHO AND WESTERN MONTANA ON FRIDAY BRINGING THE
INITIAL SURGE OF COLD AIR.

MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES...SCATTERED RAIN SHOWERS AND GUSTY WINDS
WILL ARRIVE LATE FRIDAY AND CONTINUE INTO THE REMAINDER OF THE
WEEKEND. THE UNSEASONABLY COLD AIR WILL ALLOW A RARE MID-SUMMER SNOW
TO FALL OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAINS...ESPECIALLY THE MOUNTAINS IN
GLACIER NATIONAL PARK.

IF YOjU ARE PLANNING ANY OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND BE PREPARED
FOR A CHANGE TO MUCH COOLER WEATHER. STAY TUNED FOR FURTHER UPDATES
AND ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION.

BELTZ
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 5:35 PM MDT, 3 hours 32 minutes before
MTZ004-IDZ010-011-020240-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
540 PM MDT (440 PM PDT) THU AUG 1 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL
   IDAHO...

THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER PARTS OF BEAVERHEAD...SILVER BOW AND DEER
LODGE COUNTIES IN MONTANA AND LEMHI AND IDAHO COUNTIES IN IDAHO. THE
STRONGEST STORMS ARE IN SOUTHEAST BEAVERHEAD COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 3:0 MPH AND MAY CONTAIN HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY.
REMEMBER...LIGHTNING CAN KILL.

LUDWIG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 1, 8:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOMissoula48 min
Aug 1, 9:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOPowell33 min

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.