Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 97, NWS Billings, MT

July 17, 1997Park County, Sweet Grass County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 17, 1997, 4:35 PM MDT for Park County, Sweet Grass County, Montana. It was in force for 60 min. 3 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
Jul 17, 1997, 4:35 PM MDT (22:35 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 1997, 5:35 PM MDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Park County, MT, Sweet Grass County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:34 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 17, 4:45 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 56Clyde Park, MT
Jul 17, 4:47 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 53Wilsall, MT
Jul 17, 5:00 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 52Big Timber, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 17, 3:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 397 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 12:00Z on 1997-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-342 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2538 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.