Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 34, NWS Missoula, MT

August 5, 1997Flathead County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 1997, 5:10 PM MDT for Flathead County, Montana. It was in force for 60 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
Aug 5, 1997, 5:10 PM MDT (23:10 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1997, 6:10 PM MDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Flathead County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 136 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -18 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 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
136 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-304 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2380 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMSO 052311 RRA
SVRMSO
MTC029-060010-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
510 PM MDT TUE AUG 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  610 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST MONTANA
 
   ...NORTHERN FLATHEAD COUNTY
 
AT 510 PM MDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES WEST
OF POLEBRIDGE IN THE HAY CREEK DRAINAGE. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHWEST
AT 5 MPH. IT WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN OVER HAY CREEK AND RED MEADOW CREEK
DURING THE NEXT HOUR.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LI^GHTNING...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.
 
WHITMORE/FELSCH

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 5, 1:50 PM MDT, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 1:50 PM MDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
145 PM MDT TUE AUG 5 1997

UPPER LOW MOVING SOUTHEAST TOWARD SOUTHEAST CORNER OF ID. BUT VISUAL
SATELLITE IMAGES IMPLY MOISTURE AXIS SETTING UP ALONG ID/MT BORDER
WHERE MODELS INDICATE IT WEAKENING THROUGH 36 HOURS. MEANWHILE THE
VISUALS SHOW HIGH CLOUDS THINNING TO REVEAL SOME BUILDUPS UNDERNEATH
WHILE CONVECTION IS A LITTLE MORE ADVANCED AROUND THE FRINGES...AND
A MINOR CIRCULATION BEGINNING TO MOVE SOUTHEAST ON WEST SIDE OF LEMHI
COUNTY ID. HAVE NOT BEEN IMPRESSED BY PRECIP IN BEAVERHEAD...AND
WOULD THINK THE SMALL STREAMS WERE ALMOST DRY BEFORE THIS. HIGHEST
PRECIP TOTAL ON AVAILABLE GAGES HAVE BEEN ABOUT 3/4 INCH IN 18 HOURS.
CALLED UP THE NESDIS INTERNET GRAPHIC REFERRED TO IN THEIR PRECIP
ESTIMATE MESSAGE AND THERE APPEARED TO BE A PINPOINT LOCATION IN
NORTHWEST BEAVERHEAD WHERE AN INCH WAS RECEIVED BUT GAGES IN GENERAL
VICINITY SHOW VERY LITTLE PRECIP SINCE YESTERDAY. IN A NUTSHELL...AM
NOT CURRENTLY CONCERNED ABOUT FLOODING THERE. BEGINNING WED...WOULD
LIKE TO DROP POPS BELOW GUIDANCE ON ONE HAND...BUT HIGH SURFACE DEW
POINTS AND INSTABILITY TO STICK AROUND UFN...AND MAY STILL BE HERE
AS COOL FRONT ARRIVES ON THU. SOME DIFFERENCES IN BETWEEN NGM AND THE
ETA/AVN "ALLIANCE" REGARDING SHORTWAVES IN WESTERLY FLOW AND WILL
DISREGARD THE NGM HERE. BUT PREFER THE SLOWER COOL DOWN OF MOS TEMPS.
WILL INCLUDE MINIMAL MENTION OF WIND FOR THU AFTERNOON IN MT ZONES.
GV

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

LIB .. 053/092 053/083 ... 353223
FCA EE 054/090 054/083 052 353223
POL .. 057/088 057/083 ... 353222
MSO EE 059/090 058/085 053 354222
HMM .. 058/090 058/087 ... 354222
BTM .. 053/081 052/082 ... 355222
S80 .. 059/085 057/081 ... 353312
P69 .. 063/088 060/083 ... 355323
SMN .. 059/083 056/084 ... 355321

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 4, 6:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOFlathead60 min
Aug 4, 7:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOFlathead50 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.