Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Missoula, MT

August 5, 1997Missoula County, Powell County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 1997, 9:00 PM MDT for Missoula County, Powell 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, 9:00 PM MDT (03:00 UTC)
Expired: Aug 5, 1997, 10:00 PM MDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Missoula, MT
Area: Whole counties

Counties Missoula County, MT, Powell County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 221 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 282 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2272 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

667 
WUUS1 KMSO 060306 RRA
SVRMSO
MTC063-077-060400-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
900 PM MDT TUE AUG 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...EASTERN MISSOULA COUNTY...NORTHERN POWELL COUNTY
 
AT 900 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES EAST OF
SEELEY LAKE MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM WILL PASS JUST SOUTH
OF SEELEY LAKE AROUND 915 PM MDT. ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS 2
MILES NORTH OF OVANDO MOVING SOUTHWEST 20 MPH. THIS WILL CROSS HIGHWAY
200 3 MILES WEST OF OVANDO AT 915 PM MDT.
 
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
DONT 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, 8:30 PM MDT, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 8:30 PM MDT, 30 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
830 PM MDT TUE AUG 5 1997

MAIN CONVECTIVE ACTION OVER FORECAST AREA ON A LINE FROM NORTHERN
POWELL COUNTY TO NORTHWEST LINCOLN COUNTY...WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS
TOWARD THE SOUTHERN END OF THIS LINE.  STORMS ARE TRYING TO MOVE TO
THE SOUTHWEST...BUT HAVING A HARD TIME AS WEST CENTRAL MONTANA/NORTH
CENTRAL IDAHO HAVE LOWER CAPES AND GREATER CONVECTIVE INHIBITION.
HOWEVER...STORMS MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN POWELL COUNTY LOOK LIKE THEY
WANT TO MAKE A PUSH TOWARD MISSOULA.  CONVECTION ELSEWHERE OVER CWA
CURRENTLY DIMINISHING.  AT THIS TIME...CURRENT FORECAST WORDING LOOKS
PRETTY GOOD.  MOST MIN TEMPS LOOK OKAY...GIVEN THE VERY HIGH DEW
POINTS.  SALMON SEEMS TOO HIGH.  LATEST CALL TO SMN AWOS GAVE TEMP
OF 68...DEW POINT OF 57.  NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES REQUIRED.
WHITMORE

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

LIB .. 053/092 053/083 ... 343223
FCA EE 054/090 054/083 052 343223
POL .. 057/088 057/083 ... 345222
MSO EE 059/090 058/085 053 345222
HMM .. 058/090 058/087 ... 344222
BTM .. 053/081 052/082 ... 345222
S80 .. 059/085 057/081 ... 341220
P69 .. 063/088 060/083 ... 342220
SMN .. 057/083 056/084 ... 345220

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 1997 Every 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.