Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 2, 1998Broadwater County, Jefferson County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 1998, 8:28 PM MDT for Broadwater County, Jefferson County, Montana. It was in force for 47 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 2, 1998, 8:28 PM MDT (02:28 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1998, 9:15 PM MDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Broadwater County, MT, Jefferson County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:31 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

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 163 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 00:00Z on 1998-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 42 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, Great_falls, MT at 00:00Z on 1998-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -31 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
42 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1450 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

302 
WUUS1 KGTF 030230 RRA
SVRGTF
MTC043-007-030315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
828 PM MDT THU JUL 2 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY AND SOUTHERN BROADWATER COUNTY IN
  SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA

* UNTIL 915 PM MDT

* AT 824 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR AT GREAT FALLS INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 21 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BOULDER OR 12 MILES NORTHEAST
  OF CARDWELL MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. ALSO AT 800 PM MDT A
  CAMPER AT PIPESTONE CAMPGROUND...22 MILES EAST OF BUTTE REPORTED
  HALF INCH HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 45 MPH.

* THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN RURAL AREAS.

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 2, 5:04 PM MDT, 3 hours 24 minutes before
MTZALL-031200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
500 PM MDT THU JULY 2 1998

...FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND FORECAST...

A PACIFIC LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE MOVING OVER THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST THIS WEEKEND SENDING MOIST...UNSTABLE AIR OVER MONTANA.

EAST OF THE DIVIDE...
FOURTH OF JULY...SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS. MORNING LOWS IN THE 50S AND LOWER 60S. HIGHS IN THE 70S
NORTHWEST AND 80S SOUTH AND EAST.

THE REMAINDER OF THE FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND...SHOWERS LIKELY WEST AND
NORTH...AND A LITTLE COOLER. SOUTH AND EAST... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS IN THE 50S TO LOWER 60S. HIGHS 65 TO 75
WEST AND NORTH...OTHERWISE IN THE MID 70S TO 80S.

WEST OF THE DIVIDE...
FOURTH OF JULY....COOLER WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND AFTERNOON
THUNDERSTORMS. MORNING LOWS 50 TO 60. HIGHS 70 TO 80.

FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND...A CHANCE OF SHOWERS
AND AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. LOWS UPPER 40S TO MID 50S. HIGHS 70 TO 80.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 9:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGallatin58 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.