Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 19, 1999Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 19, 1999, 3:44 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 46 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
Jun 19, 1999, 3:44 PM MDT (21:44 UTC)
Expired
Jun 19, 1999, 4:30 PM MDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 164 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:44 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
Jun 19, 4:10 PM MDTHail 0.75Grassrange, 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 nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 12:00Z on 1999-06-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 80 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 12:00Z on 1999-06-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 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
80 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-140 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1384 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 19, 2:30 PM MDT, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 19, 2:30 PM MDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
230 PM MDT SAT JUN 19 1999

SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH NRN AREA OF CWA WITH DEVELOPMENT OF CLOUDS OVER
THE MOUNTAINS. DRIER AIR STILL WORKING ITS WAY DOWN INTO CWA FROM CANADA
AND INHIBITING POTENTIAL OF THUNDERSTORMS. MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AND
THETA-E POTENTIAL GREATEST TO THE EAST OF THE CWA.ALL MODELS AGREE ON
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AS NEXT LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DIGS DOWN TOWARDS PAC
COAST. GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS TO DIMINISH AFTER DARK AND TO PICK UP AGAIN
ON SUNDAY DUE TO TIGHTER GRADIENT ALOFT AND WINDS SHOULD HOOK UP WELL
WITH SURFACE HEATING.MODELS DIFFER WITH THE FINER DETAILS SUCH AS WHERE
AND WHEN THE SURFACE LOW WILL DEVELOP. WILL HINT AT SHOWERS ON MONDAY AS
UPSLOPE SHOULD DEVELOP...HOW MUCH AND HOW LONG AGAIN DEPENDS ON TIMING
OF COLD FRONT. TEMPERATURES SHOULD WARM UP SUNDAY AND BE A LITTLE COOLER
ON MONDAY.

EXTENDED SHOWS NEXT UPPER TROF MOVING THROUGH CWS MONDAY NIGHT AND
TUESDAY BRINGING COOLER AIR AND NOT A LOT OF MOISTURE. ZONAL FLOW AND
DRY ON WEDNESDAY AND SOUTHWEST FLOW ON THURSDAY WITH WARMING AND
INCREASE OF SHOWERS. CAMP

GTF 1112 HLN 1123 HVR 1123

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 18, 6:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXMeagher33 min
Jun 18, 7:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus, Judith Basin36 min
Jun 18, 8:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGallatin31 min
Jun 19, 4:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGallatin36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 1999Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.