Alert archive / Idaho / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Missoula, MT

May 20, 1998Idaho County, Idaho

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1998, 3:56 PM PDT for Idaho County, Idaho. It was in force for 44 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
May 20, 1998, 3:56 PM PDT (22:56 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1998, 4:40 PM PDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Idaho County, ID

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 175 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:56 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
May 20, 4:15 PM PDTHail 0.75Fenn, IDHail to 3/4 inch was reported by severe weather spotter in Fenn.

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

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 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, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 1998-05-20Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 1998-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 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
1760 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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 KMSO 202301 RRA
SVRMSO
IDC049-202340-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
356 PM PDT (456 PM MDT) WED MAY 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN IDAHO COUNTY IN CENTRAL IDAHO

* UNTIL 440 PM PDT (540 PM MDT)

* 345 PM PDT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS 5 MILES WEST AND ALSO 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF
GRANGEVILLE...BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR...
MOVING NORTH-NORTHWEST AT 20 MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  NEAR FERDINAND AT 530 PDT


SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTVNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR
PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DO NOT DRIVE
INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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.

NWS Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 20, 12:45 PM PDT, 3 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 12:45 PM PDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
145 PM MDT WED MAY 20 1998
ETA SEEMS TO HAVE GOOD HANDLE ON SHORTWAVE ROTATING AROUND CUTOFF LOW
OVER SW OREGON.  NOT MUCH DYNAMICS FOR CWA TODAY BUT AIRMASS IS
FAIRLY UNSTABLE AND SOME CONVECTION ALREADY DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHERN
EDGE OF DISTRICT.  MOISTURE MOVING NORTH FROM 4 CORNERS AREA COMES
TOGETHER WITH SHORTWAVE MOVING NORTH AS CUTOFF PROGRESSES EASTWARD
DURING THE DAY THURSDAY FOR LIKELY POPS THURSDAY CONTINUING INTO
THURSDAY NIGHT. ETA BEGINS DRYING THINGS OUT BY 12Z FRIDAY AND EXPECT
THIS TREND TO CONTINUE SO LOWER POPS FRIDAY.  TEMPS WILL SHOW COOLING
TREND AS LOW APPROACHES LOWERING HEIGHTS/THICKNESS.  HOADLEY

...FORECASTS BELOW ARE PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE...

LIB .. 049/069 051/066 ... 405675
FCA WW 047/068 049/065 045 405675
POL .. 052/069 053/066 ... 405665
MSO WW 047/067 049/064 045 404665
HMM .. 048/068 050/065 ... 404665
BTM .. 041/065 039/062 ... 403765
S80 .. 044/067 042/064 ... 404664
P69 .. 049/065 047/062 ... 404664
SMN .. 043/068 041/065 ... 404654

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Idaho, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.