Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 111, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 5, 2000, 3:52 PM MDT for Cascade County, Lewis and Clark County, Montana. It was in force for 38 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
- Sep 5, 2000, 3:52 PM MDT (21:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 5, 2000, 4:30 PM MDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Great Falls, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cascade County, MT, Lewis and Clark County, MT
The radar
The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:54 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 5, 4:30 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Great Falls, MT | |
| Sep 5, 4:30 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Cascade, 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
Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 345 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1123 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 0 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -8 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS55 KTFX 052152 SVRGTF MTC013-049-052215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 352 PM MDT TUE SEP 5 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHWESTERN CASCADE COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA EAST CENTRAL LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA * UNTIL 430 PM MDT * AT 342 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHEASTERN LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY...OR ABOUT 19 MILES NORTH OF HELENA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... RURAL SOUTHWESTERN CASCADE COUNTY AT 410 PM MDT VERY LARGE HAIL IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM...PUT YOUR CAR IN A GARAGE AND MOVE TO A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REKPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN GREAT FALLS. $$ LAT...LON 4683 11210 4676 11187 4703 11158 4712 11177 JOHNSON
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 Sep 5, 3:00 PM MDT, 52 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 5, 3:00 PM MDT, 52 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 300 PM MDT TUE SEP 5 2000 SLOW BUT STEADY MOVEMENT OF TROF TOWARDS THE EAST. A SECOND TROF OVER BRITISH COLUMBIA MOVES ACROSS THE HI LINE AND JOINS WITH NORTHERN BRANCH OF TROF...LEAVING THE SOUTHERN END OF THE TROF BEHIND. TROF SHOULD BE ACROSS THE ROCKIES IN THE NORTH BY 12Z WEDNESDAY...OVER EXTREME ERN MT BY EVENING. MID-HI LVL CLOUD COVER ASSOCIATED WITH THE AXIS...AND QUITE A BIT OF LOW LVL MOISTURE ACROSS THE STATE CAUSING SOME LOWER LEVEL CLOUDS. SEVERAL WEAK VORT LOBES MOVING THRU SWLY FLOW AHEAD OF TROF...HOWEVER MOSTLY SHEAR VORT AND VERY LITTLE VERTICAL VELOCITY IS CREATED. SO COMBINATION OF MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY AGAIN APPEARS TO BE SOURCE OF ACTION...AND NOTICED THAT BUTTE IS REPORTING TCU ALL QUADS. ONE ITEM OF CONCERN IS WHETHER THE SHORT WAVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE QUICKLY TO THE EAST OR GET CAUGHT UP WITH THE SLOWER MOVING TROF OVER THE ROCKIES. AT THE MOMENT ONLY LOOKING AT A PERIOD OF ENHANCED DYNAMICS ALONG THE NORTHERN ZONES. ALSO...A SECONDARY COLD FRONT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE FASTER MOVING SHORT WAVE. THIS MAY DRIFT FURTHER SOUTH THAN THE CURRENT PROGS DEPICT...ALTHO THE LATEST MESO DOES BRING THE 552 THICKNESS SOUTH OF THE CANADIAN BORDER. RIDGING OVER THE PAC NW BY WEDNESDAY AFTN...AND EXCEPT FOR SOME AREAS IN THE SOUTH WILL BE IN A DRIER AND COOLER AIRMASS. WIND NEEDS TO BE MENTIONED AS THE TROF MOVES EAST AND WINDS GO WESTERLY...NOT ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY THOUGH. ZELZER EXTENDED DISCUSSION...IT SEEMS LIKE EVERY VERSION OF THE MRF HAS A DIFFERENT SHORT WAVE PATTERN...ALTHOUGH THE LONG WAVE FEATURES ARE FAIRLY CONSISTENT. THE MAIN MESSAGE ON THE PROGS IS THAT THE WESTERLIES WILL BE BREAKING INTO MONTANA DURING THE 3 TO 5 DAY PERIOD. SHORT WAVE DETAILS BETWEEN MRF...72HOUR AVN...72HOUR UKMET AND ECMWF ARE ALL DIFFERENT. ALL BUT THE MRF HINT AT MORE DIGGING OF MAIN LONG WAVE TROUGH...ESPECIALLY ECMWF. WILL FORECAST MOSTLY DRY AND WINDY WITH SHOWERS IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS IN THE 3 TO 5 DAY FORECAST. OARD CCF NUMBERS GTF EB 050/070 045/076 048 133111 CTB BB 0i49/065 045/072 044 132111 HLN EB 050/070 045/076 042 134111 BZN EB 040/075 036/077 038 134111 WEY EB 032/066 028/068 030 134111 DLN EB 038/072 036/074 038 134111 HVR EB 050/070 046/076 046 133111 LWT EB 050/065 044/070 044 133111
The office that day
Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 10:49 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau | 26 min |
| Sep 4, 11:14 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau | 31 min |
| Sep 4, 11:44 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Blaine, Chouteau | 46 min |
| Sep 5, 12:12 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade | 33 min |
| Sep 5, 3:55 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau | 50 min |
| Sep 5, 4:12 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade | 48 min |
| Sep 5, 4:58 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade | 47 min |
| Sep 5, 5:35 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau | 40 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2000Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.