Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 16, 2000Cascade County, Chouteau County, Teton County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 16, 2000, 4:42 PM MDT for Cascade County, Chouteau County, Teton County, Montana. It was in force for 33 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued
Jun 16, 2000, 4:42 PM MDT (22:42 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 2000, 5:15 PM MDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Cascade County, MT, Chouteau County, MT, Teton County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:45 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

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 2000-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 55 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 2000-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 125 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
55 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
691 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

033 
WUUS55 KTFX 162244
SVRGTF
MTC013-015-099-162315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
442 PM MDT FRI JUN 16 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EXTREME NORTH CENTRAL CASCADE COUNTY IN MONTANA
  WEST CENTRAL CHOUTEAU COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
  EXTREME EAST CENTRAL TETON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 515 PM MDT

* AT 435 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EXTREME EAST CENTRAL TETON COUNTY...OR
  ABOUT 17 MILES NORTHWEST OF GREAT FALLS...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30
  MPH.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN GREAT FALLS.

LAT...LON 4775 11159 4762 11140 4787 11099 4803 11122

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 16, 3:00 PM MDT, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 3:00 PM MDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT FRI JUN 16 2000

MOIST UNSTABLE NORTHWESTERLY FLOW TONIGHT SHOULD STABILIZE LATE TONIGHT
AS WEAK UPPER RIDGE BUILDS INTO WESTERN MONTANA LATE TONIGHT AND
SATURDAY. TFX RADAR SHOWS PLENTY OF SHOWERS BUT FEW THUNDERSTORMS.
HOWEVER...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING UPSTREAM IN SOUTHWEST ALBERTA...SO
WILL CONTINUE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY THIS EVENING. RIDGE
MOVING INTO CENTRAL MONTANA SATURDAY NIGHT AND INTO EASTERN MONTANA
SUNDAY FOR GOOD WARMING. NEXT UPPER TROUGH MOVING INTO PACIFIC NORTHWEST
BY SUNDAY IS OF LOW AMPLITUDE...BUT FLOW MODERATE...WHICH MEANS
DOWNSLOPE PLAINS. SO EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
MOUNTAINS...ISOLATED PLAINS AND VALLEYS ON SUNDAY. OARD

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...MODELS ARE STRIKINGLY SIMILAR IN THEIR SOLUTIONS.
THE UKMET AND THE EUROPEAN HAVE COME AROUND TO THE SOLUTION PROPOSED
YESTERDAY BY THE MRF AND HINTED AT BY THE NOGAPS REGARDING A MORE
AMPLIFIED SHORTWAVE TO EFFECT THE REGION EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE WESTERN
ATLANTIC RIDGE WILL REMAIN QUASI STATIONARY THROUGH THE PERIOD WHILE THE
PERSISTENT UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER HUDSON BAY FINALLY PULLS OUT. THE
EASTERN PACIFIC RIDGE DOES RETROGRADE TO THE WEST EARLY IN THE PERIOD
BUT THEN PARKS ITSELF OFF THE COAST ONCE AGAIN. THE WEAK SHORTWAVE
RIDGING FOR SUNDAY BREAKS DOWN QUICKLY AS THE NEXT PACIFIC SHORTWAVES
DROPS DOWN THE EASTERN PERIPHERY OF THE BUILDING EASTERN PACIFIC RIDGE.
MONDAY LOOKS UNSETTLED AS THE SHORTWAVE PASSES ON THROUGH WITH SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY. THE WAVE DOES PULL OUT INTO THE PLAINS FOR
TUESDAY WITH A FLAT RIDGE AND ZONAL FLOW RETURNING FOR TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY. A MENTION OF OROGRAPHIC PRECIP ON THESE 2 DAYS SEEMS
WARRANTED. AS FAR AS TEMPERATURES ARE CONCERNED...MONDAY WILL BE COOLER
THAN NORMAL WITH EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER AND SHOWERS WITH TUESDAY NEAR
NORMAL. WEDNESDAY MAY EVEN BE A BIT WARMER YET AS THE SOUTHWEST FLOW
TRIES TO REESTABLISH ITSELF IN ADVANCE OF YET ANOTHER PACIFIC SHORTWAVE,

CCF NUMBERS
GTF BN 042/070 048/078 049 166212
CTB BN 040/067 047/074 048 166212
HLN BB 042/072 048/080 049 166112
BZN BB 040/070 044/078 045 166112
WEY BB 030/066 035/075 038 166112
DLN BB 040/070 045/078 047 166112
HVR BB 042/068 048/078 047 166112
LWT BB 038/064 044/075 046 167102

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.