Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Billings, MT

August 14, 1999Wheatland County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at Aug 14, 1999, 9:14 PM MDT for Wheatland County, Montana. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports 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
Aug 14, 1999, 9:14 PM MDT (03:14 UTC)
Expired
Aug 14, 1999, 10:15 PM MDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Wheatland County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:14 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
Aug 14, 9:15 PM MDTTornado F0Harlowton, MTA driver on U.S. Highway 191 and an amateur radio operator reported a thin rope like tornado that was on the ground over rural areas for around 15 minutes.
Aug 14, 9:40 PM MDTHail 1Living Spgs, MTSpotter report of quarter size hail.

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
Aug 14, 4:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 125 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 1999-08-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 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 1999-08-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 60 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-177 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1802 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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 14, 8:30 PM MDT, 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 8:30 PM MDT, 44 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 14, 10:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZMusselshell62 min
Aug 14, 10:34 PM MDTTornado WarningBYZMusselshell36 min
Aug 15, 1:49 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZGolden Valley, Stillwater61 min
Aug 15, 2:38 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZMusselshell62 min
Aug 15, 2:44 AM MDTTornado WarningBYZGolden Valley51 min
Aug 15, 2:59 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZStillwater66 min
Aug 15, 3:18 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZGolden Valley62 min
Aug 15, 3:46 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZMusselshell59 min
Aug 15, 4:50 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZMusselshell45 min
Aug 15, 5:48 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZRosebud62 min
Aug 15, 6:03 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZBig Horn47 min
Aug 15, 6:30 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZTreasure30 min
Aug 15, 6:48 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZRosebud62 min
Aug 15, 10:44 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCarbon31 min
Aug 15, 10:53 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZRosebud47 min
Aug 15, 11:07 AM MDTTornado WarningBYZYellowstone48 min
Aug 15, 11:49 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZBig Horn61 min
Aug 15, 12:30 PM MDTTornado WarningBYZRosebud30 min
Aug 15, 12:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster64 min
Aug 15, 12:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZTreasure45 min
Aug 15, 12:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZRosebud59 min
Aug 15, 1:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster49 min
Aug 15, 1:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZPowder River64 min
Aug 15, 2:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCarter64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.