Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 620

July 17, 199719 counties in Montana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 17, 1997, 4:00 PM MDT for 19 counties in Montana. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 17, 1997, 4:00 PM MDT (22:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 12:00 AM MDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Big Horn County, MT, Carter County, MT, Custer County, MT, Daniels County, MT, Dawson County, MT, Fallon County, MT, Garfield County, MT, McCone County, MT, Petroleum County, MT, Phillips County, MT, Powder River County, MT, Prairie County, MT, Richland County, MT, Roosevelt County, MT, Rosebud County, MT, Sheridan County, MT, Treasure County, MT, Valley County, MT, Wibaux County, MT

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:03 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.

Warnings issued inside it

20 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 5:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWPetroleum56 min
Jul 17, 5:44 PM MDTTornado WarningGGWPhillips46 min
Jul 17, 6:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWGarfield55 min
Jul 17, 6:32 PM MDTTornado WarningGGWValley58 min
Jul 17, 7:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWValley56 min
Jul 17, 7:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWGarfield58 min
Jul 17, 8:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWValley64 min
Jul 17, 8:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWGarfield, McCone58 min
Jul 17, 8:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWRoosevelt57 min
Jul 17, 8:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster, Rosebud63 min
Jul 17, 8:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWMcCone65 min
Jul 17, 9:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWPrairie55 min
Jul 17, 9:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWDaniels64 min
Jul 17, 9:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWDawson, Richland66 min
Jul 17, 9:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster48 min
Jul 17, 9:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWRoosevelt57 min
Jul 17, 10:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWPrairie56 min
Jul 17, 10:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster, Rosebud64 min
Jul 17, 10:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWDawson, Richland63 min
Jul 17, 11:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWWibaux48 min

The nearest sounding before it

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 118 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 12:00Z on 1997-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 12:00Z on 1997-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-342 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2538 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 3:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBlaine, Carbon, Chouteau, Fergus, Golden Valley, Hill and 10 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Montana, 1997Every tornado watch 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.