Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 55, NWS Missoula, MT

August 20, 1997Granite County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 20, 1997, 5:52 PM MDT for Granite County, Montana. It was in force for 68 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 20, 1997, 5:52 PM MDT (23:52 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1997, 7:00 PM MDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Granite County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 246 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, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 1997-08-20Temperature 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, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 1997-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1780 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 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.

646 
WUUS1 KMSO 202353 RRA
SVRMSO
MTC039-210100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
552 PM MDT WED AUG 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...NORTH CENTRAL GRANITE COUNTY
 
AT 540 PM MDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 12 MILE WEST
OF MAXVILLE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND IS
EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE BEARMOUTH RECREATION AREA AROUND 615 PM.
HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING CAN
BE EXPECTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DONT USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 20, 1:55 PM MDT, 3 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 1:55 PM MDT, 3 hours 57 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
155 PM MDT WED AUG 20 1997

NGM ALREADY LOOKS BETTER THAN ETA OVER FASTER PROGRESSION OF LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE AND SHORTWAVE IN OREGON...BUT EVEN IT IS TOO SLOW.
CONVECTIVE CLOUDS ARE BEGINNING IN CENTRAL ID MOUNTAINS WHERE SUN
HAS BEEN STRONG FOR AWHILE THOUGH NOTHING ON RADAR YET. VORT LOBE
EXTENDING SOUTHEAST FROM LOW CENTER TOWARD SOUTHEAST OREGON CORNER
IS MOVING NORTHEAST AND EXTRAPOLATION PLACES THE VORT AXIS NEAR MSO
BY 00Z. NOT SURE ABOUT MUCH CONVECTION AFTER IT PASSES SO AM NOT KEEN
ON HIGH POPS ANYWHERE TONIGHT EXCEPT NORTHWEST MT. DRY SOUTHWEST FLOW
EXPECTED AFTER FIRST PERIOD AND WILL STICK WITH THE NIL MOS POPS. MID
AND HIGH LEVEL CIRCULATION ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXTRATROPICAL LOW IS
PERSISTENTLY STRONG AND WILL CONCEDE LIMITED COOL ADVECTION FROM IT
FOR THU. WARMING UP AFTERWARD IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ON FRI BUT 93 FOR MSO
LOOKS OVERDONE...AND 90 AT P69 UNDERDONE. GV

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

LIB .. 056/082 046/090 ... 356100
FCA UU 056/080 045/087 047 356000
POL .. 060/083 051/088 ... 356000
MSO UU 056/084 049/090 051 354000
HMM .. 057/086 048/092 ... 354000
BTM .. 046/083 042/087 ... 354000
S80 .. 054/084 050/088 ... 352000
P69 .. 059/088 054/093 ... 352000
SMN .. 057/085 051/090 ... 352000

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.