Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 26, 1996Cascade County, Lewis and Clark County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1996, 4:33 PM MDT for Cascade County, Lewis and Clark County, Montana. It was in force for 42 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 26, 1996, 4:33 PM MDT (22:33 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1996, 5:15 PM MDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cascade County, MT, Lewis and Clark County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 1996-06-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 344 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 1996-06-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 143 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
344 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-235 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
821 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
248 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KGTF 262235
TORGTF
MTC013-049-262315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
433 PM MDT WED JUN 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH MONTANA
 
   ...NORTHWESTERN CASCADE COUNTY
   ...SOUTHEAST TETON COUNTY
 
IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY
 
AT 433 MDT...GREAT FALLS RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 10 MILES WEST OF
SIMMS IN EXTREME NORTHEAST LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY. THE TORNADO
WAS MOVING TOWARDS EAST AND NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  TOWNS IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE SIMMS AND FORT SHAW.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FHOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
 
 
&

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 26, 11:18 AM MDT, 5 hours 15 minutes before
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1045 PM MDT TUE JUN 25 1996

TIME(MDT)  ......CITY LOCATION...... MT   ...EVENT.............
DATE(MDT)  ......COUNTY LOCATION....      ...REMARKS...........

610 PM     10 MILES SE HLN           MT   HAIL
06/25/96   LEWIS AND CLARK                2 INCH HAIL

635 PM     CLANCY                    MT   HAIL
06/25/96   JEFFERSON                      2 INCH HAIL

700 PM     MONARCH                   MT   HAIL
06/25/96   CASCADE                        1 INCH HAIL

710 PM     15 MILES S FT BENTON      MT   HAIL
06/25/96   CHOUTEAU                       1.75 INCH HAIL

755 PM     MONARCH                   MT   HAIL
06/25/96   CASCADE                        NR 1 INCH HAIL

840 PM     7 MILES N OF STANFORD     MT   HAIL
06/25/96   JUDITH BASIN                   2.75 INCH HAIL

855 PM     STANFORD                  MT   HAIL
06/25/96   JUDITH BASIN                   3/4 INCH HAIL

855 PM     COFFEE CREEK TO DENTON    MT   TORNADO
06/25/96   FERGUS                         TORNADO TRACK FROM
                                          3 S OF COFFEE CREEK
                                          TO 2 S OF DENTON
                                          FROM 855 TO 915 PM

900 PM     COFFEE CREEK              MT   HAIL
06/25/96   FERGUS                         2.75 INCH HAIL

910 PM     DENTON                    MT   HAIL
06/25/96   FERGUS                         2.75 INCH HAIL

1155 PM    5 MILES NW OF BIG SANDY   MT   HAIL
06/25/96   CHOUTEAU                       7/8 INCH HAIL
Special weather statement, Jun 26, 3:29 PM MDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
MTZ001-262145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
327 PM MDT WED JUN 26 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY...

AT 320PM GREAT FALLS RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER
RODGERS PASS IN CENTRAL LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY.  THIS THUNDERSTORM
WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  GREAT FALLS RADAR ALSO
INDICATED SEVERAL OTHER THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHERN
AND SOUTHEAST LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY.  ONE THUNDERSTORM WAS 5 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF THE TOWN OF WILBUR MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST.  ANOTHER
THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF WOLF POINT WAS MOVING TOWARD THE
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 25, 6:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLewis and Clark33 min
Jun 25, 6:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Lewis and Clark, Meagher43 min
Jun 25, 7:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau43 min
Jun 25, 7:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Meagher42 min
Jun 25, 8:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJudith Basin52 min
Jun 25, 9:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus40 min
Jun 26, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLewis and Clark, Teton45 min
Jun 26, 4:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXTeton41 min
Jun 26, 5:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus52 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.