Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Missoula, MT

June 6, 1997Deer Lodge County, Silver Bow County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 6, 1997, 1:55 PM MDT for Deer Lodge County, Silver Bow County, Montana. It was in force for 65 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 6, 1997, 1:55 PM MDT (19:55 UTC)
Expired
Jun 6, 1997, 3:00 PM MDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Deer Lodge County, MT, Silver Bow County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:55 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

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 238 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 1997-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
986 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
168 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 KMSO 062000
SVRMSO
MTC023-093-062100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
155 PM MDT FRI JUN 6 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA
 
   ...EASTERN DEER LODGE COUNTY...WESTERN SILVER BOW COUNTY
 
AT 150 P.M. MDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES
WEST OF BUTTE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. IT HAS
A HISTORY OF PRODUCING HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'TP USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 6, 9:23 AM MDT, 4 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 6, 9:23 AM MDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION...COR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
915 AM MDT FRI JUN 6 1997

FLOOD WARNINGS MONTANA ZONES 2-4>6...IDAHO ZONES 9-10.
FLOOD WATCHES MONTANA ZONES 2-3.

UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN CONJUNCTION WITH LOW IN
THE GULF OF ALASKA FORMS A DEFORMATION ZONE OVER WESTERN MONTANA THIS
MORNING. THIS AXIS SHIFTS INTO SOUTHWEST MONTANA LATER THIS MORNING.
WITH SOME CLEAR SPOTS THIS MORNING IN ZONE 8 EXPECT SOME AFTERNOON
TSTMS TO DEVELOP...MAINLY IN THE EASTERN HALF ALONG THE DEFORMATION
ZONE. THESE TSTMS SHOULD HEAD TOWARDS THERMAL TROF OVER CENTRAL
MONTANA. BELIEVE TOO MUCH CLOUD COVER FOR TSTMS ZONES 4 THROUGH
6...BUT SINCE ONLY ISOLATED WILL LEAVE IN. NEW ETA FORECASTS SEVERAL
VORT MAXES ROTATING THROUGH H5 UPPER FLOW TODAY THUS WILL KEEP POPS
SCATTERED FOR ALL AREAS. LOOKS LIKE YO-YO EFFECT LAST 24 HOURS WITH
POPS. WITH 00Z NGM AND ETA HAVE GOOD 700/300 MB COUPLET FOR SATURDAY
AM WONDERING WHY POPS SO LOW. WILL BUMP POPS BACK UP TO 30 PER CENT
EVEN THOUGH PREFER TO WAIT THIS AFTERNOON...BUT WITH ALL THE MOISTURE
AND DYNAMICS...10 PER CENTS LOOKS WAY TOO LOW. IDAHO POPS FOR S80 AND
P69 LOOK OK AS MAIN FOCUSING EAST OF THEM... BUT WILL ADJUST S80 A
TAD UPWARD DUE TO ALL THE MOISTURE AND UPSLOPE PRESENT. PLAN ON
UPDATE. HARMER

...FORECASTS BELOW ARE PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE...

LIB .. 068/052 073/... ... 32323
FCA EE 068/052 074/050 072 32423
POL .. 069/051 073/... ... 32523
MSO CE 070/052 074/050 072 32523
HMM .. 073/052 076/... ... 32523
BTM .. 070/045 074/... ... 32533
S80 .. 066/046 070/... ... 32112
P69 .. 068/050 074/... ... 32112
SMN .. 074/053 077/... ... 32212

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.