Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 15, 1997Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 15, 1997, 9:36 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 54 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 15, 1997, 9:36 PM MDT (03:36 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1997, 10:30 PM MDT
In force
54 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 03:39 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 00:00Z, 3.6 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 27 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -7 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
27 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3398 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
90 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 160338 RRA
SVRGTF
MTC027-160430-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
936 PM MDT TUE JUL 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN FERGUS COUNTY
 
AT 935 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHEAST
FERGUS COUNTY...LOCATED 10 MILES SOUTH OF FORESTGROVE. THE STORM WAS
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THE TOWN OF
TYLER DURING THE NEXT 15 MINUTES.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL..J.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
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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.