Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Missoula, MT

June 15, 1996Granite County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 15, 1996, 5:17 PM MDT for Granite County, Montana. It was in force for 43 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
Jun 15, 1996, 5:17 PM MDT (23:17 UTC)
Expired
Jun 15, 1996, 6:00 PM MDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Granite County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:17 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 246 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 1996-06-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1 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 1996-06-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-208 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1512 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 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 152319
SVRMSO
MTC039-160000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
517 PM MDT SAT JUN 15 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...                     ...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...EASTERN GRANITE COUNTY
 
AT 515 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR IN MISSOULA INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MAXVILLE. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH...AND WILL REACH THE TOWN OF OF MAXVILLE BY 530 PM
AND APPROACH THE DRUMMOND AREA BY 545 PM.
 
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.
 
 
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 Jun 15, 2:03 PM MDT, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 2:03 PM MDT, 3 hours 14 minutes before
88D AND SATELLITE ARE INDICATING RAPID THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THE
HEAVIEST ACTIVITY WAS OVER WESTERN AND NORTHERN FLATHEAD COUNTY AND
BEAVERHEAD COUNTIES OF MONTANA...LEMHI COUNTY OF IDAHO. ANTICIPATING
THAT A FEW OF THESES STORMS WILL BECOME SEVERE IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF
HOURS. MODELS ARE SLOW ON POSITIONING OF S/WV APPROACHING THE
NORTHWEST WASHINGTON COAST...NEVER THE LESS MSO-ETA KEEPS MAIN S/WV
TO THE NORTHWEST OF OUR CWA...HOWEVER A WEAK S/WV COMES THROUGH OVER
NIGHT. ANOTHER WEAK S/WV MOVES ACROSS SOUTHWEST MONTANA AND THE EAST
CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF IDAHO SUNDAY...SPELLING ANOTHER ROUND OF
CONVECTIVE WEATHER...MAINLY FROM HMM SOUTH THROUGH LEMHI AND
BEAVERHEAD COUNTIES. AVN SHOWING MAIN 5H LOW MOVING IN ALONG THE
WASHINGTON OREGON COAST BY 00Z TUESDAY...LOOKS LIKE ACTIVE WEATHER
INTO THE FIRST PART OF THE NEW WEEK.
TC

FCA 3124 048/080/048/075
LIB 2124 049/083/049/076
POL 2123 048/080/050/074
MSO 4223 051/081/052/077
HMM 3323 051/083/053/079
FN/04

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 15, 1:16 PM MDT, 4 hours 1 minute before
MTZ004-IDZ010-152100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
110 PM MDT SAT JUN 15 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER LEMHI COUNTY IN IDAHO AND BEAVERHEAD
   COUNTY IN MONTANA...

SATELLITE PICTURES AND WEATHER RADAR SHOW THUNDERSTORMS ARE
DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL LEMHI COUNTY, IDAHO AND SOUTHERN BEAVERHEAD
COUNTY, MONTANA. ONE AREA OF STORMS WAS SITUATED IN THE TAYLOR
MOUNTAIN AREA OF LEMHI COUNTY. ANOTHER AREA OF STORM DEVELOPMENT WAS
AROUND THE CITY OF LIMA IN BEAVERHEAD COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON. SOME OF THESE
STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG WITH GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL POSSIBLE.h

REMEMBER...ALL THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DEADLY LIGHTNING. IF A STORM
APPROACHES YOUR AREA SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

FOSS
Special weather statement, Jun 15, 2:11 PM MDT, 3 hours 6 minutes before
MTZ004-IDZ010-152100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
200 PM MDT SAT JUN 15 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS OVER LEMHI COUNTY IN IDAHO AND BEAVERHEAD COUNTY IN
MONTANA...

WEATHER RADAR IS INDICATING THUNDERSTORMS OVER LEMHI COUNTY. MODERATE
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS SHOWN IN SOUTHERN LEMHI COUNTY NEAR THE
PORTLAND MOUNTAIN AREA AND THERE WAS ANOTHER AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS
TWENTY MILES WEST OF SALMON. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

IN BEAVERHEAD COUNTY...MONTANA A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS
LOCATED HALFWAY BETWEEN THE CITIES OF DILLON AND LIMA. WEAKER STORMS
WERE DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE COUNTY AS WELL.

THESE STORMS THIS 0AFTERNOON HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP INTO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS, HAIL AND HEAVY RAINFALL. BE
AWARE OF THE WEATHER AROUND YOU AND SEEK SHELTER IF A STORM MOVES
INTO YOUR AREA.

FOSS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 14, 8:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSODeer Lodge57 min
Jun 15, 3:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOBeaverhead59 min
Jun 15, 4:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOGranite54 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.