Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 28, NWS Missoula, MT
NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 1, 1997, 7:20 PM MDT for Flathead County, Montana. It was in force for 40 min. 1 report 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
- Aug 1, 1997, 7:20 PM MDT (01:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 1, 1997, 8:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Missoula, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
County Flathead County, MT
The radar
The Missoula radar (KMSX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 7:25 PM MDT | Hail 1.5 | Kalispell, 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
Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 187 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
- 751 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2471 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 87 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMSO 020121 RRA SVRMSO MTC029-020200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 720 PM MDT FRI AUG 1 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWEST MONTANA ...SOUTHERN FLATHEAD COUNTY AT 715 PM MDT MISSOULA DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KALISPELL...APPROACHING HIGHWAY 2 AT SMITH LAKE. IT WILL PASS OVER HIGHWAY 93 4 MILES SOUTH OF KALISPELL ABOUT 745 PM. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. GV/PF
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 Aug 1, 1:55 PM MDT, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 1, 1:55 PM MDT, 5 hours 25 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 145 PM MDT FRI AUG 1 1997 CONVECTION DEVELOPING IN CONVERGENT BAND OVER SOUTHERN IDAHO COUNTY AND LEMHI COUNTY...A FEW TSTMS ALREADY APPROACHING STRONG ATTM IN LEMHI COUNTY. SOUNDER LI.S SHOWING -3 TO -7 IN AREAS OF CLEAR SKIES WEST CENTRAL...NORTHWEST MONTANA AND NORTHERN IDAHO PANHANDLE. S/WV TROUGH IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FCST BY NGM/ETA TO MOVE INTO FCST AREA OVERNIGHT AND WILL ENHANCE CONVERGENT BOUNDARY. S/WV TO STRENGTHEN DUE TO RIDGING FROM THE WEST AS NEXT PACIFIC SYSTEM APPROACHES THE COAST...SO NGM AND ETA MORE BELIEVABLE THAN AVN. LOW DEVELOPS OVERNIGHT IN SOUTHERN IDAHO COUNTY ALONG SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST TROUGH WHICH EXTENDS UP INTO NORTHWEST MONTANA. CAPES REMAIN HIGH TONIGHT BETWEEN 700 TO 800 J/KG. GOOD 3H DIVERGENCE OVER NORTHERN IDAHO AND NORTHWEST MONTANA TONIGHT TO AID IN LIFTING...SO SOME STRONG TSTMS THIS EVENING WITH THUNDERSTORM LINGERING INTO THE MORNING...MAINLY WESTERN MONTANA. SATURDAY... UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM MOVES EAST OF THE DIVIDE WITH SFC TROUGH MOVING DOWN INTO SOUTHWEST MONTANA AND SOUTHERN LEMHI COUNTY...WHERE POPS ARE HIGHER. SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS AND DRYING LATER IN THE AFTERNOON. SUNDAY... RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE RETROGRADES WEST ENOUGH FOR DRIER AND MORE STABLE. AVN INDICATING A WEAK S/WV APPROACHING FROM THE WEST SUNDAY...HOWEVER TO DRY AND STABLE FOR MUCH OF ANY THING. TC ...FORECASTS BELOW ARE PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE... LIB .. 054/084 054/087 ... 294321 FCA BU 052/084 052/086 054 29542- POL .. 058/085 058/088 ... 29532- MSO BU 055/087 053/090 056 29532- HMM .. 053/089 051/092 ... 29532- BTM .. 051/086 049/089 ... 29433- S80 .. 057/084 059/088 ... 295211 P69 .. 059/086 061/090 ... 295211 SMN .. 052/084 054/088 ... 294210
The office that day
Everything else NWS Missoula, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 3:01 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MSO | Beaverhead | 29 min |
| Aug 2, 3:28 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MSO | Beaverhead | 47 min |
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.