Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Missoula, MT

July 28, 1998Lake County, Missoula County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1998, 1:52 PM MDT for Lake County, Missoula County, Montana. It was in force for 63 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
Jul 28, 1998, 1:52 PM MDT (19:52 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1998, 2:55 PM MDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lake County, MT, Missoula County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 33 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:54 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 nearest sounding before it

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 184 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 1998-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 128 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, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 1998-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -21 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
128 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-346 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2575 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-10 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.

938 
WUUS1 KMSO 282000 RRA
SVRMSO

MTC047-063-282055-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
152 PM MDT TUE JUL 28 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA
  NORTHEASTERN MISSOULA COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 255 PM MDT

* AT 155 PM MDT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM INDICATED 10 MILES EAST OF
  ARLEE...BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR...MOVING EAST
  AT 5 MPH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...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.

WHITMORE

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 Jul 28, 9:05 AM MDT, 4 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 9:05 AM MDT, 4 hours 47 minutes before
WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
905 AM MDT TUE JUL 28 1998

RIDGE APPEARS TO BE BREAKING DOWN A LITTLE AND A SUCCESSION OF MINOR
SHORTWAVES ARE EJECTING TOWARD REGION FROM MAIN OFFSHORE LOW. MODELS
ARE NOT HANDLING THESE AS WELL AS YESTERDAY BUT WATER VAPOR SHOWS THE
ONE OF IMMEDIATE CONCERN TO BE NEAR THE ETA/AVN 5H LOCATION ACROSS
WA TO SOUTHWEST ID. ANOTHER ONE TRAILING IN OR/NV IS NOT RECOGNIZED
BY MODELS AND WILL HAVE TO BE LOOKED AT FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF STORMS
TONIGHT. PLENTY OF MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY AVAILABLE IN ANY CASE.
BELIEVE THE POPS ARE IF ANYTHING A LITTLE LOW BUT WILL LEAVE FOR NOW.
TEMPS ARE TRICKY AND DEPENDENT ON CLOUD COVER. BELIEVE CURRENT MT
ZONES ARE FINE...BUT LATE MORNING/EARLY AFTERNOON WILL SEE STRONG
SUNSHINE IN WEST CENTRAL ID. PITTSBURG LANDING ALREADY 77 DEGREES
AND WILL LIKELY TOP 100 AGAIN...STILL COOLER THAN MON. WILL PULL
OUT ID ZONE 8 FOR UPDATE. GV

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

LIB .. 087/061 086/... ... 35553
FCA TE 086/060 085/056 083 35653
POL .. 086/064 085/... ... 35653
MSO TE 087/061 086/060 084 35654
HMM .. 089/064 088/... ... 35654>
BTM .. 083/053 081/... ... 35664
S80 .. 092/063 088/... ... 35454
P69 .. 096/066 090/... ... 35534
SMN .. 089/060 088/... ... 35433

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 2:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOLincoln59 min
Jul 28, 3:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOFlathead59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.