Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 2000, 3:45 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 45 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, 3:45 PM MDT (21:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 9, 2000, 4:30 PM MDT
- In force
- 45 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), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:48 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 3:55 PM MDT | Hail 0.88 | Grassrange, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2:00 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 143 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS55 KTFX 092146 SVRGTF MTC027-092230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 345 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 430 PM MDT * AT 342 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN FERGUS COUNTY INCLUDING THE AREAS NEAR GRASS RANGE AND FORESTGROVE. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH. GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM...PUT YOUR CAR IN A GARAGE AND MOVE TO A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. 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 4699 10898 4686 10879 4683 10865 4723 10882
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, 3:00 PM MDT, 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 3:00 PM MDT, 45 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 300 PM MDT SUN JUL 9 2000 LOOKS LIKE A TRANSITION TO A LESS ACTIVE CONVECTIVE PATTERN BY TUESDAY. UPPER TROUGH OVER THE PAC NW SUNDAY AFTERNOON IS FORECAST TO SWING INTO SRN ALTA AND SW SASK MONDAY AFTERNOON. ON TUE WEAKLY ANTICYCLONIC FLOW ALOFT IS FORECAST OVER THE AREA. FOR TONIGHT SPC HAS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR HVR AND LWT ZONES. 19Z SURFACE DATA SHOWS MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AND LIS DOWN TO MINUS 5 FROM SW MT INTO CENTRAL MT. NW AREA ALSO HAS MOISTURE CONVERGENCE BUT AIRMASS IS LESS UNSTABLE THERE. HAVING SOME TROUBLE PICKING OUT VORTICITY CENTER MODELS FORECAST S OF MSO AT 18Z. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY GIVING HINTS OF A SHORTWAVE ANYWHERE FROM FAR SW MT TO SW ID. IN ANY CASE SHOULD HAVE SOME LIFT FROM DYNAMICS TO HELP DEVELOP STRONG THUNDERSTORMS INTO EARLY THIS EVENING. MODELS HAVE SHORTWAVES AFFECTING THE AREA LATER TONIGHT INTO MON. THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES ON TIMING. WILL LEAVE IN A THREAT OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS LATER TONIGHT AS AIRMASS IS FORECAST TO CONTINUE TO BE UNSTABLE AND THERE WILL BE LOW LEVEL CONFLUENCE. ON MON AIRMASS IS FORECAST NOT TO BE AS UNSTABLE AND LOW LEVEL CONFLUENCE SHIFTS E THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA. WILL LEAVE IN A THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS BUT GENERALLY GO WITH A TAD LOWER POPS. FOR TUE AIRMASS IS FORECAST TO BE STABLE AND MODELS ARE NOT INDICATING ANY SIGNIFICANT SHORTWAVES. EXCEPTION IS THE SW WHERE ETA HAS BZN ZONE WEAKLY UNSTABLE AND AVN HAS BOTH BZN AND DLN ZONES WEAKLY UNSTABLE. WAS THINKING OF GOING DRY BUT AFTER COORDINATION CALL WITH BIL WILL MENTION SOME CONVECTION OVER BZN ZONE. BLANK EXTENDED DISCUSSION...NEW LONG RANGE PROGS SHOW FAIRLY STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN MONTANA WEDNESDAY...MOVING INTO THE DAKOTAS ON THURSDAY. HOT TEMPERATURES EXPECTED. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CAUSE AREA TO BE VULNERABLE FOR ISOLATED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. UPPER TROUGH MOVING INTO THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND BRITISH COLUMBIA FRIDAY FOR INCREASED CHANCE OF DIURNAL THUNDERSTORMS IN AREA. OARD CCF NUMBERS GTF BU 048/080 050/083 055 043210 CTB BU 047/075 048/078 052 042200 HLN BU 050/082 050/085 055 043200 BZN BU 048/082 046/085 050 043321 WEY BU 040/075 038/078 040 043322 DLN BU 046/080 045/083 048 043210 HVR BU 052/081 052/083 057 044310 LWT BU 048/080 048/082 052 044310
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 8, 9:25 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Blaine, Fergus | 50 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, 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, 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.