Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Great Falls, MT

August 1, 2000Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 1, 2000, 7:11 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 64 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Aug 1, 2000, 7:11 PM MDT (01:11 UTC)
Expired: Aug 1, 2000, 8:15 PM MDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Whole counties

County Fergus County, MT

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 1, 7:20 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Suffolk, 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
Aug 1, 4:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 106 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: 520 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 3573 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 1 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.

404 
WUUS55 KTFX 020112
SVRGTF
MTC027-020215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
711 PM MDT TUE AUG 1 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 815 PM MDT

* AT 702 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF ROY MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  35 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...
  OVER ROY AT 735 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.

$$
LAT...LON 4754 10928 4738 10938 4704 10840 4729 10824

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 Aug 1, 3:00 PM MDT, 4 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 1, 3:00 PM MDT, 4 hours 11 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT TUE AUG 1 2000

UPPER LOW MOVING EWD ACROSS WRN ALBERTA...WITH UPPER HIGH STATIONARY
OVER THE GREAT BASIN. WEAK UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OVER MONTANA. SURFACE FRONT
MOVING SLOWLY EWD ACROSS CWA.  WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS SHORT WAVE
MOVING EWD INTO SWRN MT...ETA MODEL HANDLING THIS FEATURE QUITE WELL.
THIS FEATURE ALONG WITH DECREASING STABILITY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
WILL FIRE SOME THUNDERSTORMS OVER SWRN ZONES...WITH MOVE ACTIVITY
EXPECTED IN EASTERN CWA IN VICINITY OF SFC FRONT. ACTIVITY WILL DIE OFF
FROM WEST TO EAST AFTER SUNSET.

AIRMASS BECOMES INCREASINGLY STABLE AND DRIER TONIGHT...LASTING THROUGH
THURSDAY...AS FLAT UPPER RIDGE BUILDS OVER AREA. AFTER TEMPERATURES COOL
A BIT INTO WED...THICKNESSES INCREASE ONCE AGAIN FOR WARMING
TEMPERATURES ON THUR. THERE REMAINS THE THREAT OF ISOLD AFTN/EVE TSTMS
OVER MOUNTAINS WED-THUR. JOHNSON

EXTENDED DISCUSSION...
BOTH MRF AND ECMWF MODELS HAS H5 RIDGE OVER AREA WITH A DEVELOPING TROF
OVR THE PAC NW. MRF HAS PAC NW TROF MORE PROGRESSIVE BY SUNDAY...WHILE
ECMWF HAS RIDGE OVR ERN MT. CONTINUED WARM AND MAINLY DRY WEATHER
THROUGH SATURDAY...WITH A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY.

CCF NUMBERS
GTF UU 054/091 053/093 057 121000
CTB UU 050/086 049/088 053 120001
HLN BB 055/092 053/094 056 122211
BZN BB 052/092 050/093 052 122211
WEY BB 042/084 040/086 043 123211
DLN BB 051/088 048/089 050 122211
HVR UU 056/092 053/093 056 123300
LWT BU 053/087 051/089 054 123300

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 1, 5:30 PM MDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
530 PM MDT TUE AUG 1 2000

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0255 PM    MOORE                     MT   UNKNOWN TSTM GUST
08/01/00   FERGUS                         8-9 TREES BLOWN DOWN

0325 PM    5 W BUFFALO               MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

0340 PM    6 bE GARNEILL              MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

0345 PM    11 SE LEWISTOWN           MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

NNNN

Local storm report, Aug 1, 5:45 PM MDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED TO ADD GRASSRANGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
545 PM MDT TUE AUG 1 2000

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0255 PM    10 SE MOORE               MT   UNKNOWN TSTM GUST
08/01/00   FERGUS                         8-9 TREES BLOWN DOWN

0325 PM    5 W BUFFALO               MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

0340 PM    6 E GARNEILL              MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

0345 PM    11 SE LEWISTOWN           MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

0415 PM    GRASSRANGE                MT   0.88 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

NNNN

Local storm report, Aug 1, 6:00 PM MDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...UPDATED TO ADD MOORE WIND REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
600 PM MDT TUE AUG 1 2000

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0255 PM    10 SE MOORE               MT   UNKNOWN TSTM GUST
08/01/00   FERGUS                         8-9 TREES BLOWN DOWN

0325 PM    5 W BUFFALO               MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

0340 PM    6 E GARNEILL              MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

0340 PM    MOORE                     MT   60 MPH TSTM GUST
08/01/00   FERGUS                         BLEW DOWN SEVERAL
                                          COTTONWOOD TREES

0345 PM    11 SE LEWISTOWN           MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

0415 PM    GRASSRANGE                MT   0.88 INCH HAIL
08/01/00   FERGUS

NNNN

Special weather statement, Aug 1, 6:05 PM MDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
605 PM MDT TUE AUG 1 2000

MTZ011-013-020300-
BLAINE/CHOUTEAU/HILL-FERGUS/JUDITH BASIN-
605 PM MDT TUE AUG 1 2000

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CANCELLED FOR BLAINE AND FERGUS
COUNTIES...

DRY...STABLE AIR IS MOVING INTO CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA
FROM THE WEST. AS A RESULT...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN
CANCELLED FOR BLAINE AND FERGUS COUNTIES. ISOLATED EVENING
THUNERSTORMS MAY STILL DEVELOP OVER THE AREA...BUT ARE NOT EXPECTED
TO REACH SEVERE LEVELS.

MPJ

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.