Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 6, 1997Blaine County, Chouteau County, Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 6, 1997, 5:15 PM MDT for Blaine County, Chouteau County, Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports 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: Jun 6, 1997, 5:15 PM MDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired: Jun 6, 1997, 6:15 PM MDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Whole counties

Counties Blaine County, MT, Chouteau County, MT, Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:18 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
Jun 6, 5:30 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 54	Turner, MT
Jun 6, 6:15 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Warrick, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 6, 4:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 91 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 986 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 168 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 KGTF 062314
SVRGTF
MTC027-005-015-070015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
515 PM MDT FRI JUN 6 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...EXTREME NORTHWESTERN FERGUS COUNTY
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN BLAINE COUNTY...EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN CHOUTEAU COUNTY
 
AT 512 PM...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 35 MILES EAST OF FORT
BENTON. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO
SOUTHWEST BLAINE COUNTY 600 PM. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAINS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 5, 6:34 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Broadwater	41 min
Jun 6, 2:55 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Lewis and Clark	50 min
Jun 6, 3:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Lewis and Clark	45 min
Jun 6, 4:03 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade	57 min
Jun 6, 4:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Chouteau, Judith Basin	56 min
Jun 6, 4:38 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade	67 min
Jun 6, 5:31 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Chouteau, Judith Basin, Meagher	59 min
Jun 6, 5:52 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Yellowstone	68 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 1997 Every 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.