Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Missoula, MT

August 7, 1997Flathead County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 7, 1997, 2:15 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 7, 1997, 2:15 PM MDT (20:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 7, 1997, 3:15 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, 8.3 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 45 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, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
45 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-382 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1987 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

435 
WUUS1 KMSO 072015
SVRMSO
MTC029-072115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
215 PM MDT THU AUG 7 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST MONTANA
 
   ...EASTERN FLATHEAD COUNTY
 
AT 215 PM MDT...MISSOULA DOPPLER CONTINUED TO INDICATE A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 18 MILES EAST OF KALISPELL. THIS STORM IS MOVING TO
EAST-NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL PASS JUST SOUTH OF ESSEX BY
230 PM MDT. PING PONG BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH THIS
STORM EARLIER.
 
IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING
WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...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.
 
BELTZ/CLEMMONS

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 7, 1:45 PM MDT, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 1:45 PM MDT, 30 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
145 PM MDT THU AUG 7 1997

SFC FRONT STILL EXTENDS FROM EXTREME NORTHWEST MT TO SOUTHEAST WA.
ISOLATED TSTMS IN PANHANDLE AND NORTHWEST MONTANA WITH FIRST WARNING
JUST ISSUED FOR STORM NEAR FCA. BUILDUPS STILL OCCURRING AHEAD OF
FRONT OVER CENTRAL ID/SOUTHWEST MT SO NOT OUT OF WOODS YET IN THESE
AREAS SINCE FRONT/ASSOCIATED SHORTWAVE STILL YET TO PUSH EAST...WHICH
SHOULD TRIGGER SCATTERED TSTMS IN THESE AREAS BY LATE AFTERNOON DUE
TO VERY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. BECOMING COOL AND DRY BEHIND FRONT BUT
CHANNELED VORT WITH SOME MOISTURE WORKING THROUGH WEST MONTANA LATER
FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. DYNAMICS LACKING SO MAY ONLY MENTION ISOLATED
SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. BELTZ

...FORECASTS BELOW ARE PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE...
LIB .. 047/074 045/073 ... 2710-1
FCA BB 049/075 046/073 046 2710-1
POL .. 053/077 051/075 ... 271001
MSO BB 052/080 048/078 048 27200-
HMM .. 049/082 046/080 ... 272000
BTM .. 048/080 045/077 ... 273000
S80 .. 056/081 051/080 ... 271000
P69 .. 058/083 053/082 ... 272000
SMN .. 050/083 047/082 ... 272000

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 1:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOFlathead40 min
Aug 7, 2:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOMissoula60 min
Aug 7, 2:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOMissoula55 min
Aug 7, 3:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOPowell60 min
Aug 7, 3:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOBeaverhead, Deer Lodge, Ravalli30 min
Aug 7, 3:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOLake35 min
Aug 7, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOPowell45 min
Aug 7, 4:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOFlathead45 min
Aug 7, 4:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOSanders47 min
Aug 7, 5:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOBeaverhead59 min
Aug 7, 5:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOGranite, Missoula, Powell55 min
Aug 7, 5:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOLake55 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.