Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Billings, MT

August 15, 1999Yellowstone County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1999, 11:07 AM MDT for Yellowstone County, Montana. It was in force for 48 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: Aug 15, 1999, 11:07 AM MDT (17:07 UTC)
Expired: Aug 15, 1999, 11:55 AM MDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Billings, MT
Area: Whole counties

County Yellowstone County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:08 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

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 12:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 284 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: 60 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -322 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1584 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 129 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Aug 15, 9:15 AM MDT, 1 hour 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 9:15 AM MDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
915 AM MDT SUN AUG 15 1999

BEEN A BIT BUSY HERE THE PAST FEW HOURS BUT...A MOIST UNSTABLE SOUTHWEST
FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING CHANCES OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO THE
CWA. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY HAVE WINDS OVER 60 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ESPECIALLY IN THE EASTERN ZONES. MAY HAVE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN THE EAST BEFORE NOON. CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE FROM THE
WEST DURING THE DAY AS AN UPPER TROUGH MOVES EAST BRINGING COOLER MORE
STABLE AIR TO THE ZONES. THIS COOLER AIR WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY GUSTY
WEST WINDS. WARMER AND DRIER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED BY MID WEEK AS A
STRONG RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE NORTHERN ROCKIES.
TEMPERATURES SEEM TO BE IN THE BALL PARK BUT WILL MAKE A FEW CHANGES TO
THE FORECAST. THORICHT

BIL TB 078/052 080/056 085 58432
LVM .. 071/048 077/... ... 58422
HDN .. 080/050 082/... ... 58432
MLS .. 083/050 082/057 ... 58442
4BQ .. 082/049 084/... ... 58442
BHK .. 080/047 081/... ... 58442
SHR TB 081/049 084/051 086 58432

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 15, 5:25 AM MDT, 5 hours 42 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Local storm report, Aug 15, 5:25 AM MDT, 5 hours 42 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 5:30 AM MDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 5:30 AM MDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 9:45 AM MDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before

MTZ030>033-036-037-152100-

THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
945 AM MDT SUN AUG 15 1999

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON...

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL COMBINE WITH MOIST AND
UNSTABLE AIR TO GENERATE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHERN
MONTANA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.  AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO
SOUTHEAST MONTANA...INCLUDING ROSEBUD...CARTER...POWDER
RIVER...FALLON AND CUSTER COUNTIES...SOME WILL BECOME SEVERE. A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE DAMAGING
HAIL...WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY
RAIN.

PEOPLE PLANNING VARIOUS ACTIVITIES TODAY SHOULD BE AWARE OF
THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER...AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR
FAVORITE RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AND
FORECASTS.

...HERE ARE A FEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES...

FOR YOUR PROTECTION...STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE TO A STURDY SHELTER OR WELL
PROTECTED AREA.

AVOID CREEK BEDS AND OTHER FLOOD-PRONE AREAS.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

DLB

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 9:45 AM MDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before

MTZ030>033-036-037-152100-

THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
945 AM MDT SUN AUG 15 1999

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA THIS AFTERNOON...

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL COMBINE WITH MOIST AND
UNSTABLE AIR TO GENERATE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHERN
MONTANA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.  AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO
SOUTHEAST MONTANA...INCLUDING ROSEBUD...CARTER...POWDER
RIVER...FALLON AND CUSTER COUNTIES...SOME WILL BECOME SEVERE. A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE DAMAGING
HAIL...WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY
RAIN.

PEOPLE PLANNING VARIOUS ACTIVITIES TODAY SHOULD BE AWARE OF
THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER...AND MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR
FAVORITE RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AND
FORECASTS.

...HERE ARE A FEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES...

FOR YOUR PROTECTION...STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE TO A STURDY SHELTER OR WELL
PROTECTED AREA.

AVOID CREEK BEDS AND OTHER FLOOD-PRONE AREAS.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

DLB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 14, 9:14 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BYZ	Wheatland	61 min
Aug 14, 10:18 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Musselshell	62 min
Aug 14, 10:34 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BYZ	Musselshell	36 min
Aug 15, 1:49 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Golden Valley, Stillwater	61 min
Aug 15, 2:38 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Musselshell	62 min
Aug 15, 2:44 AM MDT	Tornado Warning	BYZ	Golden Valley	51 min
Aug 15, 2:59 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Stillwater	66 min
Aug 15, 3:18 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Golden Valley	62 min
Aug 15, 3:46 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Musselshell	59 min
Aug 15, 4:50 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Musselshell	45 min
Aug 15, 5:48 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Rosebud	62 min
Aug 15, 6:03 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Big Horn	47 min
Aug 15, 6:30 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Treasure	30 min
Aug 15, 6:48 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Rosebud	62 min
Aug 15, 10:44 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Carbon	31 min
Aug 15, 10:53 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Rosebud	47 min
Aug 15, 11:49 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Big Horn	61 min
Aug 15, 12:30 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BYZ	Rosebud	30 min
Aug 15, 12:36 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Custer	64 min
Aug 15, 12:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Treasure	45 min
Aug 15, 12:56 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Rosebud	59 min
Aug 15, 1:41 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Custer	49 min
Aug 15, 1:56 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Powder River	64 min
Aug 15, 2:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Carter	64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes in 1999

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.