Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 26, 1996Glacier County, Toole County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 26, 1996, 9:49 PM MDT for Glacier County, Toole County, Montana. It was in force for 56 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 26, 1996, 9:49 PM MDT (03:49 UTC)
Expired
Jul 26, 1996, 10:45 PM MDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Glacier County, MT, Toole County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:53 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 26, 10:45 PM MDTHail 1.75Santa Rita, 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, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 188 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 00:00Z on 1996-07-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5 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 00:00Z on 1996-07-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-216 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
239 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 KGTF 270352 RRA
SVRGTF
MTC035-101-270445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
949 PM MDT FRI JUL 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH MONTANA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN GLACIER COUNTY...SOUTHWESTERN TOOLE COUNTY
 
AT 935 PM MDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES
NORTH OF THE TOWN OF CUTBANK. THIS STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
ONE INCH IN DIAMETER HAIL WAS REPORTED NORTHWEST OF CUTBANK. THIS STORM
WILL AFFECT CUTBANK IN THE NEXT FEW MINUTES...AND WILL AFFECT THE TOWN
OF ETHRIDGE BY 1015 PM MDT.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT bSTAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 26, 8:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGlacier63 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.