Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 9, 2000Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 2000, 2:58 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 47 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 9, 2000, 2:58 PM MDT (20:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 2000, 3:45 PM MDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:02 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 9, 3:14 PM MDTHail 1.75Forestgrove, 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 9, 2:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 120 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 2000-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 192 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 2000-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 16 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
192 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-253 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1254 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS55 KTFX 092059
SVRGTF
MTC027-092145-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
258 PM MDT SUN JUL 9 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN FERGUS COUNTY IN MONTANA

* UNTIL 345 PM MDT

* AT 254 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES WEST OF FORESTGROVE...OR ABOUT 13 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF LEWISTOWN...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  FORESTGROVE AT 305 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.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM MDT SUNDAY
EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN MONTANA. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ALSO
REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM MDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR NORTHWESTERN
MONTANA.

LAT...LON 4700 10936 4687 10917 4711 10876 4727 10900

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 9, 9:30 AM MDT, 5 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 9:30 AM MDT, 5 hours 28 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
930 AM MDT SUN JUL 9 2000
...UPDATES PLANNED FOR ZONES AND STATE...
AT 12Z A VORTICITY CENTER WAS OVER NW MT E OF CONTDVD. SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS ARE OVER THE NRN ZONES ASSOCIATED WITH THE FEATURE.
ALTHOUGH IT WAS NOT REAL DEFINITE ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY APPEARED TO BE
ANOTHER VORTICITY CENTER OVER SE OREGON. 12Z ETA/NGM INITIALIZATIONS
WERE POOR WITH FIRST FEATURE BUT DO NOT APPEAR TOO BAD IN THEIR HANDLING
OF THE 2ND FEATURE. THIS FEATURE WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL MT THIS
AFTERNOON. LATEST ETA HAS CENTRAL MT LIFTED INDICES DOWN TO MINUS 7 AT
18Z WITH CAPES ON THE ORDER OF 2000 JOULES/KG. SO WITH COMBINATION OF
QUITE UNSTABLE AIRMASS AND SHORTWAVE...CENTRAL/N CENTRAL MT CERTAINLY
UNDER THE GUN FOR MORE SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON. SPC OUTLOOK AREA
LOOKS GOOD. CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS PRETTY GOOD BUT WILL DO SOME
NOWCASTING WITH 1ST PERIOD.

.EXTENDED...
FINALLY A PATTERN CHANGE IS SEEN WHICH SHOULD SPELL WELCOME RELIEF IN
THE EXTENDED WITH STRONG RIDGE IN THE MIDDLE PART OF THE NATION POKING
NORTHWARD. GRADUAL WARMING IS SEEN BUT SOME CONVECTION CAN NOT BE RULED
OUT OVER THE MOUNTAINS. PATTERN CHANGE MAY NOT LAST LONG AS ANOTHER
UPPER LOW DIVES ALONG THE PACIFIC COAST TO SET UP THE SW FLOW AGAIN.
ONLY A LITTLE TWEAKING TO THE GOING EXTENDED THIS MORNING.

BLANK

CCF NUMBERS
GTF TB 082/052 080/052 084 053332
CTB BB 078/048 077/048 082 053332
HLN TB 082/047 078/052 088 053332
BZN TB 082/045 080/048 083 054432
WEY TB 078/040 075/042 078 054432
DLN TB 082/046 080/048 082 054432
HVR BB 084/050 082/055 084 053332
LWT TB 082/048 080/052 084 054432

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 6:11 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXChouteau, Fergus64 min
Jul 8, 6:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau44 min
Jul 8, 6:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade49 min
Jul 8, 6:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau54 min
Jul 8, 7:12 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXFergus63 min
Jul 8, 7:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau60 min
Jul 8, 7:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJudith Basin40 min
Jul 8, 8:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Fergus, Judith Basin60 min
Jul 8, 8:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBlaine, Chouteau65 min
Jul 8, 9:24 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXFergus36 min
Jul 8, 9:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBlaine, Fergus50 min
Jul 9, 1:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBlaine65 min
Jul 9, 3:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus45 min
Jul 9, 4:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus48 min
Jul 9, 5:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus, Judith Basin49 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.