Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 3, 1998Cascade County, Meagher County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1998, 8:59 PM MDT for Cascade County, Meagher County, Montana. It was in force for 21 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 3, 1998, 8:59 PM MDT (02:59 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1998, 9:20 PM MDT
In force
21 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cascade County, MT, Meagher County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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 3, 9:00 PM MDTHail 2White Sulphur Spgs, MT

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 3, 7:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 1998-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1560 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1560 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1121 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
310 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
8.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

618 
WFUS1 KGTF 040301 RRA
TORGTF
MTC013-059-040320-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
859 PM MDT FRI JUL 3 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN CASCADE COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA
  NORTHERN MEAGHER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 920 PM MDT

* AT 858 PM MDT... DOPPLER RADAR AT GREAT FALLS INDICATED A TORNADO
  32 MILES NORTH OF WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS OR 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  MONARCH MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO FROM 858 PM
  MDT TO 920 PM MDT ARE...   MONARCH.


IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY STURDY
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT... SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...
DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. BEWARE
THE THREAT OF RISING WATER.

AT SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING STORM...TOWERING THUNDERHEADS...DARKENING
SKIES...LIGHTNING AND INCREASING WINDS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.
TUNE IN NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR
THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 6:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXPondera32 min
Jul 3, 6:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLewis and Clark32 min
Jul 3, 6:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJefferson34 min
Jul 3, 7:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGlacier35 min
Jul 3, 7:22 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Lewis and Clark43 min
Jul 3, 7:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade47 min
Jul 3, 7:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Teton48 min
Jul 3, 8:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLewis and Clark59 min
Jul 3, 8:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXMeagher29 min
Jul 3, 8:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus, Judith Basin61 min
Jul 3, 8:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLiberty, Pondera, Toole64 min
Jul 3, 8:17 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau18 min
Jul 3, 8:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau, Teton49 min
Jul 3, 8:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLiberty, Pondera, Toole49 min
Jul 3, 8:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus, Judith Basin, Meagher51 min
Jul 3, 9:00 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningTFXChouteau, Fergus, Judith Basin3 hr
Jul 3, 9:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBroadwater, Jefferson49 min
Jul 3, 9:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Fergus, Hill, Judith Basin, Liberty49 min
Jul 3, 9:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBroadwater, Meagher50 min
Jul 3, 10:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Fergus, Judith Basin58 min
Jul 3, 10:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBlaine, Hill58 min
Jul 3, 10:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXMeagher50 min
Jul 3, 11:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJudith Basin60 min
Jul 4, 12:15 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJudith Basin45 min
Jul 4, 2:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJudith Basin63 min
Jul 4, 4:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGallatin, Madison61 min
Jul 4, 4:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus63 min
Jul 4, 4:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGallatin48 min
Jul 4, 5:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade60 min
Jul 4, 5:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus51 min
Jul 4, 5:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXMeagher63 min

Nearby

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