Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 26, 1996Petroleum County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1996, 10:14 PM MDT for Petroleum County, Montana. It was in force for 31 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, 10:14 PM MDT (04:14 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1996, 10:45 PM MDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Petroleum County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:13 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

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 174 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 00:00Z on 1996-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 679 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 00:00Z on 1996-06-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 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
679 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-381 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1086 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 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 270417
TORGTF
MTC069-270445-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1014 PM MDT WED JUN 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN PETROLEUM COUNTY
 
AT 1012 PM MDT...BILLINGS RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 30 MILES NORTHEAST
OF ROUNDUP OVER EXTREME SOUTHEAST PETROLEUM COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS
MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HArNDS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 26, 6:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLiberty30 min
Jun 26, 6:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus26 min
Jun 26, 7:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBlaine, Fergus41 min
Jun 26, 9:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXPetroleum47 min
Jun 26, 10:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXPondera, Teton54 min
Jun 26, 11:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXToole26 min
Jun 26, 11:51 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXToole39 min
Jun 27, 12:00 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLiberty45 min
Jun 27, 12:16 AM MDTTornado WarningTFXLiberty29 min
Jun 27, 12:41 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXHill, Liberty49 min
Jun 27, 5:37 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXPondera, Toole53 min
Jun 27, 6:17 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLiberty43 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.