Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Great Falls, MT

August 28, 1997Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 28, 1997, 9:40 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 50 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
Aug 28, 1997, 9:40 PM MDT (03:40 UTC)
Expired
Aug 28, 1997, 10:30 PM MDT
In force
50 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 03:41 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 28, 8:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 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 1997-08-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 52 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 1997-08-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
52 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3129 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 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 290342 RRA
SVRGTF
MTC027-290430-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
940 PM MDT THU AUG 28 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
 
   ...FERGUS COUNTY
 
AT 935 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED TWO SEVERE STORMS...ONE IN
NORTHEASTERN FERGUS COUNTY AND ANOTHER MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF
OF FERGUS COUNTY. BOTH OF THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT
35 TO 40 MPH. THE NORTHERN STORM WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWESTERN PHILLIPS
COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT HALF HOUR. THE SOUTHERN STORM WILL MOVE JUST
SOUTH OF LEWISTOWN IN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES AND INTO FOREST GROVE IN THE
NEXT HALF HOUR.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 28, 3:55 PM MDT, 5 hours 45 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
350 PM MDT THU AUG 28 1997

TIME(MDT)  ......CITY LOCATION...... MT   ...EVENT.............
DATE(MDT)  ......COUNTY LOCATION....      ...REMARKS...........

530 PM     WINDAM                    MT   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/27/97   JUDITH BASIN
Local storm report, Aug 28, 3:56 PM MDT, 5 hours 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION FOR LOCATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
356 PM MDT THU AUG 28 1997

TIME(MDT)  ......CITY LOCATION...... MT   ...EVENT.............
DATE(MDT)  ......COUNTY LOCATION....      ...REMARKS...........

530 PM     WINDHAM                    MT   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/27/97   JUDITH BASIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 28, 6:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau40 min
Aug 28, 8:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJudith Basin, Meagher54 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.