Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 4, 1997Lewis and Clark County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 4, 1997, 5:33 PM MDT for Lewis and Clark County, Montana. It was in force for 57 min. 1 report 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 4, 1997, 5:33 PM MDT (23:33 UTC)
Expired
Jun 4, 1997, 6:30 PM MDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Lewis and Clark County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:36 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 4, 6:00 PM MDTHail 1.75Augusta, 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 nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 1997-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1725 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 1997-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 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
1725 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-119 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
899 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 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 042336 RRA
SVRGTF
MTC049-050030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
533 PM MDT WED JUN 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA
 
   ...NORTHWESTERN LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY
 
AT 530 PM...GREAT FALLS RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF THE TOWN OF AUGUSTA. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST
AT 30 MPH. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 5:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXTeton61 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.