Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 8, 2000Blaine County, Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 8, 2000, 9:25 PM MDT for Blaine County, Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 50 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: Jul 8, 2000, 9:25 PM MDT (03:25 UTC)
Expired: Jul 8, 2000, 10:15 PM MDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Blaine County, MT, Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 171 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:27 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 8, 5:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 114 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: 426 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2198 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS55 KTFX 090327
SVRGTF
MTC005-027-090415-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN FERGUS COUNTY IN MONTANA
  SOUTHERN BLAINE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 1015 PM MDT

* AT 917 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN FERGUS COUNTY AND 
SOUTHERN BLAINE COUNTY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED STRONG WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.

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

LAT...LON 4796 10954 4755 10934 4758 10872 4802 10870

$$

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, 9:00 PM MDT, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 9:00 PM MDT, 25 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
900 PM MDT SAT JUL 8 2000

BUSY WORKING SEVERE WEATHER...BUT A QUICK PEAK AT NEW ETA LOOKS LIKE LOW
LEVEL NORTH TO NORTHEAST FLOW WITH FAIRLY STRONG UPPER TROUGH TO THE
WEST. LOOKS LIKE THERE SHOULD BE MORE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY. MAIN
LOW MOVING INTO CENTRAL ALBERTA MONDAY WITH HANG BACK TROUGH INTO
PACIFIC NORTHWEST. WEST SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WITH NORTHEAST LOW LEVEL
FLOW IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA MONDAY...SHOULD PRODUCE MORE THUNDERSTORMS.
BUT DOWNSLOPE PROBABLY DEVELOPING MONDAY PLAINS. WILL UPDATE ZONES AND
STATE TO FINE TUNE FIRST 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 8, 6:11 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	TFX	Chouteau, Fergus	64 min
Jul 8, 6:16 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Chouteau	44 min
Jul 8, 6:41 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade	49 min
Jul 8, 6:51 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Chouteau	54 min
Jul 8, 7:12 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	TFX	Fergus	63 min
Jul 8, 7:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Chouteau	60 min
Jul 8, 7:50 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Judith Basin	40 min
Jul 8, 8:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Chouteau, Fergus, Judith Basin	60 min
Jul 8, 8:25 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Blaine, Chouteau	65 min
Jul 8, 9:24 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	TFX	Fergus	36 min
Jul 9, 1:25 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Blaine	65 min
Jul 9, 2:58 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	47 min
Jul 9, 3:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	45 min
Jul 9, 4:57 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	48 min
Jul 9, 5:11 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus, Judith Basin	49 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.