Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 1996, 7:02 PM MDT for Liberty County, Toole County, Montana. It was in force for 43 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 2, 1996, 7:02 PM MDT (01:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 2, 1996, 7:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Great Falls, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Liberty County, MT, Toole County, MT
The radar
The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:04 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 7:25 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Tiber, MT |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 140 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 964 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -48 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2891 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 92 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 170 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGTF 030105 SVRGTF MTC101-051-030145- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 702 PM MDT TUE JUL 2 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH MONTANA ...SOUTHERN TOOLE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA ...SOUTHEASTERN LIBERTY COUNTY AT 650 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHEASTERN TOOLE COUNTY SOUTH OF THE TOWN OF DEVON. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST INTO SOUTHERN LIBERTY COUNTY AT 25 MPH. LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE LIKELY NEAR THIS THUNDERSTORM. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DON'T USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS. ZELZER
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.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 4:50 PM MDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
MTZ003-022345- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 445 PM MDT Tue Jul 2 1996 AT 435 PM MDT GREAT FALLS RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE TOWN OF HEART BUTTE ALONG THE BORDER BETWEEN GLACIER AND PONDERA COUNTIES. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. THE FORECASTED MOVEMENT OF THIS STORM PLACES IT NEAR CUTBANK IN 45 MINUTES. LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE NEAR THIS STORM. ZELZER
Special weather statement, Jul 2, 5:54 PM MDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
MTZ003-030030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 550 PM MDT TUE JUL 2 1996 AT 540 PM MDT GREAT FALLS RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM MIDWAY BETWEEN VALIER AND SHE<LBY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND IS FORECASTED TO BE NEAR SHELBY WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES. LARGE HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE NEAR THESE THUNDERSTORMS. ZELZER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 7:39 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Liberty | 51 min |
| Jul 2, 8:03 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Fergus, Petroleum | 57 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.