Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 8, 2000Cascade County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 8, 2000, 5:54 PM MDT for Cascade County, Montana. It was in force for 51 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
Jul 8, 2000, 5:54 PM MDT (23:54 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 2000, 6:45 PM MDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Cascade County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:53 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 8, 6:36 PM MDTHail 0.75Ulm, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 8, 5:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 97 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 2000-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2000-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2167 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
162 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.

894 
WUUS55 KTFX 082354
SVRGTF
MTC013-090045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
554 PM MDT SAT JUL 8 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN CASCADE COUNTY IN MONTANA
  
* UNTIL 645 PM MDT

* AT 554 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 18 MILES SOUTH OF FT SHAW...OR ABOUT 12 MILES
  WEST OF CASCADE...MOVING NORTHEAST 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.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM MDT
SATURDAY EVENING FOR WESTERN MONTANA. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT SUNDAY MORNING FOR WESTERN
MONTANA.

LAT...LON 4726 11215 4714 11196 4747 11134 4759 11180

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 Jul 8, 3:00 PM MDT, 2 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 3:00 PM MDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT SAT JUL 8 2000

WAITING FOR CONVECTION TO KICK OFF THIS AFTERNOON. DEW POINTS SLOWLY
RISING AT THIS TIME WITH SATELLITE IMAGERY INDICATING CUMULUS DEVELOPING
OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA AS WELL AS OVER BELT MOUNTAINS. MESOETA TAKES
SHORTWAVE NOW OVER IDAHO AND MOVES IT ACROSS CENTRAL MONTANA THIS
EVENING AND EVENTUALLY INTO NORTHEAST MONTANA. STRONG OMEGA VALUES AS
WELL AS GOOD CAPE AND HELICITY NUMBERS ALL POINT TO AN ACTIVE CONVECTIVE
EVENING. LATEST MESOSCALE DISCUSSION INDICATES A WATCH BOX MAY BE
FORTHCOMING WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS AS SPC FIGURES ACTIVITY
GEARING UP BY 22Z. CLOSED UPPER LOW AND ASSOCIATED TROF MOVE FURTHER
EAST SUNDAY WITH AIRMASS OVER CWA REMAINING UNSTABLE. SHORTWAVES
CONTINUE TO ROTATE OUT OF TROF FOR A CONTINUED CHANCE OF AFTERNOON
CONVECTION. LOW BEGINS TO LIFT OUT MONDAY WITH AXIS OF TROF FINALLY
PASSING OVER CWA. UNTIL THIS HAPPENS...WILL GO WITH SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS EACH PERIOD. TEMPERATURES CHANGE LITTLE NEXT 48 HOURS
ALTHOUGH...WILL DROP THEM A TAD FOR MONDAY. EMANUEL

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...NEW LONG RANGE PROGS INDICATE UPPER TROUGH HAS
WEAKENED CONSIDERABLY BY TUESDAY. UPPER RIDGE BUILDS INTO EASTERN
MONTANA OR DAKOTAS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. THIS INDICATES TEMPERATURES
WILL RISE WITH LESS CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN 3 TO 5 DAY PERIOD. OARD

CCF NUMBERS
GTF TB 052/080 050/077 048 085333
CTB TB 048/076 046/073 045 084333
HLN TB 051/080 049/078 052 084333
BZN TB 047/082 045/078 048 084333
WEY TB 040/078 038/074 040 084444
DLN TB 046/082 043/078 046 083333
HVR TB 054/082 052/082 054 084433
LWT TB 050/080 047/077 048 086433

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 5:09 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXLewis and Clark51 min
Jul 8, 5:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau35 min
Jul 8, 5:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade25 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.