Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 5, 2000Liberty County, Pondera County, Toole County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 5, 2000, 8:43 PM MDT for Liberty County, Pondera County, Toole County, Montana. It was in force for 32 min. 1 report came from 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, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jun 5, 2000, 8:43 PM MDT (02:43 UTC)
Expired: Jun 5, 2000, 9:15 PM MDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Liberty County, MT, Pondera County, MT, Toole County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:43 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
Jun 5, 9:00 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Sunburst, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 5, 7:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 136 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1296 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -119 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2824 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 163 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

253 
WUUS55 KTFX 060245
SVRGTF
MTC051-073-101-060315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
843 PM MDT MON JUN 5 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN LIBERTY COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
  EASTERN PONDERA COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
  TOOLE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF SHELBY

* UNTIL 915 PM MDT

* AT 833 PM MDT...A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS REPORTED ALONG A 
LINE   EXTENDING FROM 5 MILES SOUTH OF KEVIN TO 9 MILES WEST OF 
SHELBY TO   14 MILES SOUTH OF SHELBY...OR ALONG A LINE EXTENDING 
FROM 13 MILES   NORTHWEST OF SHELBY TO 9 MILES WEST OF SHELBY TO 10 
MILES NORTH OF   CONRAD...MOVING EAST AT 25 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 4895 11211 4802 11168 4807 11170 4819 11119
          4809 11114 4902 11156

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 5, 3:00 PM MDT, 5 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 5, 3:00 PM MDT, 5 hours 43 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT MON JUN 5 2000

HIGH PRES RDG MOVG INTO ERN MT BY 00Z...WHILE SHORT WAVE TROF OVER WRN
MT MOVES INTO GTF CWA THIS EVE. GOOD DYNAMICS WITH THIS SHORT
WAVE...CAPE VALUES NEAR 1400 J/KG OVER NW GTF CWA...LI BTN -2 AND -4 DEG
C...GOOD Q VECTOR CONV. FLOW ALF BECMG SWLY WITH DIFFLUENT FLOW AT H5
LEVEL. SHORT WAVE MOVES INTO ERN MT OVRNGHT AND WKN AS UPPER LEVEL RDG
BLDS OVER THE AREA LATER TONIGHT THRU WED AS PER MDLS. E TO SELY FLOW AT
LOW LEVELS CONTS E OF CONTDVD...AS SURFACE LOW WITH ASC COLD FRONT OVER
ERN WA/NRN ID MOVES E TO KGTF BY 06Z. DEWPOINTS MNLY IN THE 45 TO 53 DEG
RANGE FOR LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AS PER RAOB SOUNDING. WITH ALL OF THIS IN
MIND...GOING FOR SCT EVE T-STORMS...SOME MAY CONTAIN STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AND HAIL...DESPITE A LACK OF MOISTURE IN MID AND HIGH LEVELS.
TEMPERATURES WILL BE A FEW DEGREES COOLER TUES AS PAC SFC HIGH BUILDS
INTO WRN AND CNTRL MT...TEMPERATURES BOUND BACK UP WEDNESDAY AS UPR
LEVEL RDG CONTS TO AMPLIFY. WILLIAMSON

EXTENDED PERIOD...CONDITIONS LOOK TO BE UNSETTLED THROUGH 3 TO 5 DAY
PERIOD WITH STATE UNDER SWLY FLOW ALOFT THRU PERIOD. ENSEMBLES SHOW MEAN
TROUGH OVER ERN PAC THURSDAY...MOVING INTO WRN MT LATE FRIDAY. COLD
FRONT AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW MOVE ACROSS STATE THURSDAY NIGHT.
THICKNESSES DROP SIGNIFICANTLY FRIDAY FOR COOLER TEMPERATURES INTO
SATURDAY. WITH TROUGH OVER AREA THRU MUCH OF PERIOD...BELIEVE MENTION OF
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WARRANTED.
BRITTON

CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 050/077 048/084 052 203111
CTB BB 046/073 046/081 048 204111
HLN BB 050/080 052/085 053 204111
BZN BB 044/080 050/084 048 204111
WEY BB 036/074 038/077 036 204112
DLN BB 046/076 047/081 046 203111
HVR BB 052/080 055/085 054 204111
LWT BB 046/075 048/081 050 203111

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 5, 7:14 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Lewis and Clark, Teton	31 min
Jun 5, 7:56 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Teton	49 min
Jun 5, 8:39 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Chouteau	36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2000 Every 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.