Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 69, NWS Missoula, MT
NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 15, 1997, 5:41 AM MDT for Missoula County, Montana. It was in force for 64 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 15, 1997, 5:41 AM MDT (11:41 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 15, 1997, 6:45 AM MDT
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Missoula, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
County Missoula County, MT
The radar
The Missoula radar (KMSX), 5 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:41 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 15, 6:30 AM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Missoula, MT |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The nearest sounding before it
Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 00:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 201 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KMSO 151143 RRA SVRMSO MTC063-151245- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 541 AM MDT MON SEP 15 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 AM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA ...SOUTHEASTERN MISSOULA COUNTY AT 530 AM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LOLO. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE THROUGH SOUTHEAST MISSOULA AND APPROACH MILTOWN BY 600 AM. HAIL BETWEEN DIME TO NICKEL SIZE IS LIKELY WITH THE STORM ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
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 15, 2:03 AM MDT, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 2:03 AM MDT, 3 hours 38 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 200 AM MDT MON SEP 15 1997 WINDS HAVE SHIFTED TO THE NORTHWEST WITH PRESSURE RISING AT MSO WITH THE PASSAGE OF A FAIRLY DRY SHORTWAVE AT THE SURFACE. TWO OTHER FRONTAL BOUNDARIES EVIDENT ON SATELLITE AND FORECAST BY MODELS OVER WASHINGTON/OREGON/IDAHO BORDERS AND ALONG WASHINGTON AND OREGON COAST. FRONTAL BOUNDARY WITH UPPER LEVEL JET ENTERING INTO IDAHO THIS MORNING WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN MONTANA BY DAYBREAK AND NEAR THE DIVIDE BY LATE AFTERNOON. PREFER SLOWER ETA MODEL WHICH HAS FEATURES MORE MERIDIONAL. 90KT JET ON FRONT SIDE OF TROUGH OVER OREGON AND NORTHERN CA WILL MAKE FRONT PROGRESSIVE...BUT 90KT JET NEAR 50N 140W WILL KEEP MOVEMENT IN CHECK. DYNAMICS ALONG FRONTAL BOUNDARY WEAKENS AS IT APPROACHES THE DIVIDE. THUS WILL GO LIKELY POPS FOR IDAHO AND WESTERN MT ZONES BUT CHANCE POPS OVER SOUTHWEST MT. MODELS HANDLE INSTABILITY DIFFERENTLY FOR TODAY WITH ETA THE MOST STABLE AND NGM VERY UNSTABLE. WILL GO WITH COMPROMISE OF AVN MODEL AND HAVE ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER WEST CENTRAL MONTANA AND SCATTERED OVER SOUTHWEST MT WHERE GREATEST INSTABILITY LIES. UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVES OVER CWA AND BECOMES MORE ZONAL BY TUESDAY WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS IN MORE STABLE ATMOSPHERE. FELSCH ...FORECASTS BELOW ARE PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE... LIB .. 061/045 060/... ... 30744 FCA WE 062/044 058/040 060 30744 POL .. 063/050 0460/... ... 30643 MSO WE 065/046 060/042 063 30643 HMM .. 066/044 062/... ... 30643 BTM .. 065/044 056/... ... 30553 S80 .. 064/047 060/... ... 30743 P69 .. 066/052 063/... ... 30753 SMN .. 066/044 063/... ... 30652
The office that day
Everything else NWS Missoula, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 14, 9:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MSO | Flathead | 45 min |
| Sep 15, 10:40 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MSO | Missoula, Powell | 60 min |
| Sep 15, 10:50 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MSO | Granite, Powell | 40 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.