Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 2, 1997Gallatin County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 1997, 3:59 PM MDT for Gallatin County, Montana. It was in force for 61 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
Jul 2, 1997, 3:59 PM MDT (21:59 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1997, 5:00 PM MDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Gallatin County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 202 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:58 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
Jul 2, 4:18 PM MDTTornado F0Bozeman, MTHAM SPOTTER REPORTED TORNADO ON THE GROUND. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE.

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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 218 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 1997-07-02Temperature 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
803 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 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 022200 RRA
TORGTF
MTC031-022300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
359 PM MDT WED JUL 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA
 
   ...NORTHERN GALLATIN COUNTY
 
AT 355 PM A PILOT REPORTED A TORNADO OVER THE MOUNTAINS EAST OF TRIDENT.
RADAR SHOWS THE STORM MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 5MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 5:30 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXGallatin45 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.