Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 54, NWS Missoula, MT

August 15, 1997Lake County, Sanders County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 15, 1997, 3:57 PM MDT for Lake County, Sanders County, Montana. It was in force for 48 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 15, 1997, 3:57 PM MDT (21:57 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1997, 4:45 PM MDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lake County, MT, Sanders County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 134 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 1997-08-15Temperature 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, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -88 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2991 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 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 152203 RRA
SVRMSO
MTC047-089-152245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
357 PM MDT FRI AUG 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...EXTREME WESTERN LAKE COUNTY...NORTHEASTERN SANDERS COUNTY
 
AT 355 PM MDT MISSOULA RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
NIARADA AT THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF SANDERS COUNTY. LARGE HAIL AND STRONG
WIND IS EXPECTED AS THIS STORM MOVES SOUTH AT 15 MPH. IT WILL BE NEAR
THE TOWN OF LONE PINE AT 415 PM MDT.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
GV

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 15, 1:49 PM MDT, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 1:49 PM MDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
145 PM MDT FRI AUG 15 1997
SHORTWAVE OVER WA/ID PANHANDLE/NRN MT IS NOT MOVING SOUTH AS FAST AS
ETA INDICATES AND HAS A MORE E-W ORIENTATION.  SHOWERS DEVELOPING
OVER NW MT AS LEADING EDGE OF MOISTURE FIELD FINALLY MAKES ITS WAY TO
CANADIAN BORDER.  TIME HEIGHT CROSS SECTIONS CLEARLY SHOW MOISTURE
LAGGING BEHIND OMEGA WITH MAX OMEGA DURING DAY TODAY AND MAX MOISTURE
BETWEEN 06-18Z TNGT/SAT.  CROSS SECTIONS ALSO SHOW SUBSIDENCE OVER
MOST OF CWA TONIGHT/SAT WITH NEXT GOOD SHOT OF OMEGA AFTER OOZ SUN.
SECOND WAVE COMES THROUGH NW SAT NIGHT SO HIGHER POPS LIB/FCA THEN.
BEST MOISTURE STAYS EAST OF DIVIDE AND ETA QPF ALSO SUPPORTS BEST
PRECIP CHANCES.  THIS ALSO SUPPORTED BY ETA FOUS WITH ONLY .001
PRECIP IN 24 HOURS AT MSO.  TEMPS A LITTLE COOLER TONIGHT BUT LATEST
MODELS NOT INDICATING AS MUCH COOLING AS EARLIER THINKING.  SUNDAY A
LITTLE WARMER AND DRYER WITH WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGING.  HOADLEY

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

LIB .. 052/071 055/074 ... 404353
FCA EE 049/070 052/073 049 404353
POL .. 054/069 056/071 ... 404353
MSO EE 051/072 053/075 051 404353
HMM .. 048/073 051/077 ... 404443
BTM .. 045/070 045/073 ... 403443
S80 .. 051/074 054/077 ... 403333
P69 .. 054/077 057/080 ... 403333
SMN .. 048/071 051/075 ... 403333

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.