Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Billings, MT

July 4, 1998Yellowstone County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 4, 1998, 8:34 PM MDT for Yellowstone County, Montana. It was in force for 31 min. 4 reports 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 4, 1998, 8:34 PM MDT (02:34 UTC)
Expired: Jul 4, 1998, 9:05 PM MDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Billings, MT
Area: Whole counties

County Yellowstone County, MT

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 4, 9:05 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Billings Hgts, MT	A spotter reported that a small tornado briefly touched down near the intersection of Alexander Road and Highway 87.
Jul 4, 9:10 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Shepherd, MT
Jul 4, 9:13 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Billings, MT	An eight inch tree limb fell across the southbound lane on main street in Billings.
Jul 4, 9:15 PM MDT	Hail 1.75	Billings, MT	Several reports of hail up to 1.75 inches in diameter were reported in and around Billings from spotters, amateur radio operators and law enforcement. The hail severely damaged several cars and roofs. The hail also caused heavy damage to crops in the Billing

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
Jul 4, 5:30 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 245 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1001 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1485 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

682 
WFUS1 KBIL 050235 RRA
TORBIL
MTC111-050305-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
834 PM MDT SAT JUL 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BILLINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN YELLOWSTONE COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 905 PM MDT

* AT 830 PM MDT...SPOTTERS INDICATED A FUNNEL CLOUD NORTHWEST OF
  BILLINGS 10 MILES...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

* ANOTHER FUNNEL CLOUD WAS LOCATED WEST OF LAUREL ALSO MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH

* THE TORNADOS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  ACTON BY 840 PM
  NORTHWEST BILLINGS AREA BY 850 PM
  NORTHWEST LAUREL AREA BY 850 PM

IF YOU ARE IN A CAR...GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

RASCH

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jul 4, 8:30 PM MDT, 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 8:30 PM MDT, 4 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
830 PM MDT SAT JUL 4 1998

NO AFD TONIGHT...DUE TO CONVECTIVE WEATHER.  DIAZ

BIL BB 061/087 061/081 059 604353
LVM .. 055/078 053/074 ... 605453
HDN .. 059/089 059/084 ... 604353
MLS .. 065/090 063/083 ... 605454
4BQ .. 062/088 060/080 ... 605354
BHK .. 060/083 057/078 ... 605554
SHR BB 057/089 056/079 054 604242

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 4, 6:16 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Wheatland	59 min
Jul 4, 7:06 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Carter	64 min
Jul 4, 7:23 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Custer	62 min
Jul 4, 8:10 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Golden Valley, Stillwater, Yellowstone	60 min
Jul 4, 8:10 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Musselshell	60 min
Jul 4, 8:21 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Custer	64 min
Jul 4, 9:13 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BYZ	Yellowstone	27 min
Jul 4, 9:22 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Custer	58 min
Jul 4, 9:41 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Yellowstone	59 min
Jul 4, 9:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Rosebud	61 min
Jul 4, 9:55 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Big Horn	60 min
Jul 4, 10:24 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BYZ	Custer	61 min
Jul 4, 10:24 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Custer	61 min
Jul 4, 10:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Rosebud	61 min
Jul 4, 10:56 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Big Horn, Treasure	64 min
Jul 4, 11:11 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BYZ	Custer	64 min
Jul 5, 4:17 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Big Horn	63 min
Jul 5, 4:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Powder River, Rosebud	65 min
Jul 5, 5:01 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Big Horn, Yellowstone	64 min
Jul 5, 5:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Big Horn	65 min
Jul 5, 5:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Powder River	64 min
Jul 5, 5:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Powder River	66 min
Jul 5, 5:55 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Stillwater	65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes in 1998

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.