Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 29, 1997, 4:39 PM MDT for Judith Basin County, Montana. It was in force for 36 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 29, 1997, 4:39 PM MDT (22:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 29, 1997, 5:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Great Falls, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
County Judith Basin County, MT
The radar
The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:42 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 5:02 PM MDT | Hail 1.25 | Hobson, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 2:30 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 52 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -305 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 833 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 18 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 55 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
228 WFUS1 KGTF 292240 RRA TORGTF MTC045-292315- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 439 PM MDT SUN JUN 29 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL MONTANA ...SOUTHERN JUDITH BASIN COUNTY RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEWISTOWN OVER SOUTHERN JUDITH BASIN COUNTY. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST AT AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR AND SHOULD AFFECT THE LITTLE BELT MOUNTAINS OVER SOUTHERN JUDITH BASIN COUNTY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 28, 6:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade | 60 min |
| Jun 28, 7:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau | 45 min |
| Jun 28, 8:20 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau | 55 min |
| Jun 28, 8:36 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Teton | 54 min |
| Jun 29, 2:53 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Gallatin | 67 min |
| Jun 29, 3:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade, Meagher | 60 min |
| Jun 29, 5:18 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Fergus | 57 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.