Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Missoula, MT

September 14, 1997Flathead County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 14, 1997, 9:30 PM MDT for Flathead County, Montana. It was in force for 45 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
Sep 14, 1997, 9:30 PM MDT (03:30 UTC)
Expired
Sep 14, 1997, 10:15 PM MDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Flathead County, MT

The nearest sounding before it

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 00:00Z, 3.5 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 00:00Z on 1997-09-15Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1997-09-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -5 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1521 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
318 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.

739 
WUUS1 KMSO 150332 RRA
SVRMSO
MTC029-150415-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
930 PM MDT SUN SEP 14 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST MONTANA
 
   ...SOUTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL FLATHEAD COUNTY...
 
AT 930 PM MDT A WEATHER SPOTTER NEAR CRESTON REPORTED HAIL ONE INCH IN
DIAMETER IN A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 25 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO HUNGRY HORSE BY AROUND 950 PM.
 
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.
GV/TC

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 Sep 14, 8:31 PM MDT, 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 14, 8:31 PM MDT, 59 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
830 PM MDT SUN SEP 14 1997

THETA-E RIDGE CROSSED DIVIDE TO VICINITY GTF AND TOOK MOST OF THE
THUNDER WITH IT. BUT A TINY VORT VISIBLE ON WATER VAPOR IS REFIRING
STORMS SOUTH OF POL. COLD FRONT HAS BEEN IN ID PANHANDLE AND PROBABLY
NORTHWEST MT CORNER FOR SEVERAL HOURS BUT GETTING HUNG UP...AND OTX
VAD SHOWING THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY POSITION OVER THEM HAS CHANGED
LITTLE LAST 3 HOURS. BUT MODELS EXPECTED THIS ANYWAY. WILL NOT EXPECT
ANOTHER SURGE IN ITS MOVEMENT TIL AFTER WAVE AT NORTHWEST NV CORNER
...SHOWN IN 50A/70A WIND FIELDS...RIPPLES ALONG THE FRONT. VERY FEW
STORMS LEFT ANYWHERE BUT MIGHT HAVE ISOLATED THUNDER AS STRONG VORT
ENTERS NORTHWEST MT LATER TONIGHT. RADARS SHOWING INCREASING SHOWERS
INTO NORTH CENTRAL ID AND INCREASING ALOT IN EASTERN WA...THOUGH
SURFACE OBS NOT IMPRESSED YET. SHOWERS WILL SPREAD TO NORTHWEST MT
NEXT FEW HOURS SO WILL KEEP POPS VERY HIGH. BUT WILL CHANGE WORDING
MOST MT ZONES TO HAVE SHOWERS INCREASING SOONER THAN THEY CURRENTLY
SAY. WILL NOT PLAY WITH TEMPS TONIGHT AS THEY LOOK CLOSE ENOUGH WITH
NO NEW GUIDANCE. WILL UPDATE MT ZONES. GV

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

LIB .. 050/065 045/062 ... 35+744
FCA WW 052/063 043/060 039 359744
POL .. 056/067 048/063 ... 358734
MSO WC 053/065 043/060 040 357734
HMM .. 054/066 040/063 ... 356734
BTM .. 048/060 040/056 ... 353633
S80 .. 052/064 047/064 ... 35+444
P69 .. 056/066 051/066 ... 35+555
SMN .. 049/070 044/065 ... 353422

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 5:41 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOMissoula64 min
Sep 15, 10:40 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOMissoula, Powell60 min
Sep 15, 10:50 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOGranite, Powell40 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.