Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 16, 2000Cascade County, Meagher County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 16, 2000, 6:34 PM MDT for Cascade County, Meagher County, Montana. It was in force for 26 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, 6:34 PM MDT (00:34 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 2000, 7:00 PM MDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Cascade County, MT, Meagher County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:35 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 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 79 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 2000-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 76 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 2000-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
76 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1262 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
132 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.

386 
WUUS55 KTFX 170035
SVRGTF
TTAA00 KDEN 170034

MTC013-059-170100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL CASCADE COUNTY IN MONTANA
  NORTHWESTERN MEAGHER COUNTY IN MONTANA

* UNTIL 700 PM MDT

* AT 625 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTH CENTRAL CASCADE COUNTY...OR ABOUT 24
  MILES SOUTHEAST OF CASCADE...MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
RURAL NORTHWESTERN MEAGHER COUNTY AT 650 PM MDT

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 4681 11141 4682 11110 4713 11113 4709 11147

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, 3 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 3:00 PM MDT, 3 hours 34 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.