Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 23, 1997Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1997, 9:37 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 68 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 23, 1997, 9:37 PM MDT (03:37 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1997, 10:45 PM MDT
In force
68 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 03:36 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 1997-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3004 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 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 240337 RRA
SVRGTF
MTC027-240445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
937 PM MDT WED JUL 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MONTANA
 
   ...SOUTHERN FERGUS COUNTY
 
AT 925 PM MDT DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10
MILES EAST OF LEWISTOWN. STRONG GUSTY WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MILES AN
HOUR...HAIL IN EXCESS OF 1 INCH AND HEAVY RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL
AFFECT THE TOWN OF FOREST GROVE JUST BEFORE 10 PM MDT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 23, 7:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGallatin64 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.