Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 6, 1997Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 6, 1997, 1:46 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 59 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
Jul 6, 1997, 1:46 PM MDT (19:46 UTC)
Expired
Jul 6, 1997, 2:45 PM MDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 164 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:47 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 1997-07-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 26 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, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 1997-07-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-297 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2153 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
85 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 061947 RRA
SVRGTF
MTC027-062045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
146 PM MDT SUN JUL 6 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN FERGUS COUNTY
 
AT 145 PM...WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 30 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF LEWBISTOWN OVER SOUTHEASTERN FERGUS COUNTY IN THE LITTLE
SNOWY MOUNTAINS. THIS STORM WILL BE MOVING INTO OUT OF THE LITTLE SNOWYS
THROUGH 230 PM. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WIND AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 6, 5:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau45 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.