Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Billings, MT

July 5, 2000Powder River County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 5, 2000, 5:02 PM MDT for Powder River County, Montana. It was in force for 28 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 5, 2000, 5:02 PM MDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 2000, 5:30 PM MDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Powder River County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 237 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:06 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 5, 5:25 PM MDTTornado F0Broadus, MTNWS post storm ground survey confirmed an F0 (winds 42-72 mph) tornado. Tornado damaged some trees. This was the same tornado that touched down 5 miles north of Epsie at 1804 MST.

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 5, 4:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Rapid City, SD (KUNR), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 262 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, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2000-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 420 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2000-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
420 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-237 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
668 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
317 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS55 KBYZ 052305
TORBIL

MTC075-052330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
502 PM MDT WED JUL 5 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BILLINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN POWDER RIVER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA

* UNTIL 530 PM MDT

* AT 502 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  TORNADO 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF SONNETTE ALONG US HIGHWAY 212        
  28 MILES NORTHWEST OF BROADUS...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF...NORTHERN      
  POWDER RIVER COUNTY. 

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WHICH
WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

$$
RASCH/MIDDENDORF

LAT...LON 4579 10623 4541 10624 4526 10506 4578 10502

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 6:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZFallon65 min
Jul 4, 6:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCarter62 min
Jul 4, 7:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZFallon62 min
Jul 5, 4:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZPowder River63 min
Jul 5, 5:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZRosebud56 min
Jul 5, 5:35 PM MDTTornado WarningBYZPowder River55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 2000Every tornado warning in 2000Tornadoes in 2000

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.