Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 27, 1996, 12:16 AM MDT for Liberty County, Montana. It was in force for 29 min. 2 reports 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
- Jun 27, 1996, 12:16 AM MDT (06:16 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 27, 1996, 12:45 AM MDT
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Great Falls, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
County Liberty County, MT
The radar
The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:18 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 27, 12:20 AM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Chester, MT | |
| Jun 27, 12:45 AM MDT | Hail 1 | Chester, 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, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 127 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
- 1796 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -66 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1324 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 72 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 116 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 229 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.3
- Supercell composite
- 9.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGTF 270619 TORGTF MTC051-270645- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 1216 AM MDT THU JUN 27 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 AM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA ...CENTRAL LIBERTY COUNTY AT 1217 AM MDT...GREAT FALLS RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE TOWN OF LOTHAIR IN CENTRAL LIBERTY COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE THROUGH THE TOWN OF CHESTER AT 1235 AM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNI|TURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26, 6:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Liberty | 30 min |
| Jun 26, 6:49 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Fergus | 26 min |
| Jun 26, 7:19 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Blaine, Fergus | 41 min |
| Jun 26, 9:58 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Petroleum | 47 min |
| Jun 26, 10:14 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | TFX | Petroleum | 31 min |
| Jun 26, 10:51 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Pondera, Teton | 54 min |
| Jun 26, 11:34 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Toole | 26 min |
| Jun 26, 11:51 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | TFX | Toole | 39 min |
| Jun 27, 12:00 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Liberty | 45 min |
| Jun 27, 12:41 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Hill, Liberty | 49 min |
| Jun 27, 5:37 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Pondera, Toole | 53 min |
| Jun 27, 6:17 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Liberty | 43 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.