Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 8, 2000Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 2000, 9:24 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 36 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, 9:24 PM MDT (03:24 UTC)
Expired: Jul 8, 2000, 10:00 PM MDT
In force: 36 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), 163 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:26 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 112 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 
WFUS55 KTFX 090325
TORGTF

MTC027-090400-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
924 PM MDT SAT JUL 8 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL FERGUS COUNTY IN MONTANA

* UNTIL 1000 PM MDT

* AT 922 PM MDT...COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED A TORNADO 10 MILES WEST 
OF   ROY...OR ABOUT 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF LEWISTOWN...MOVING EAST AT 
20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  6 MILES NORTHWEST OF ROY AT 945 PM MDT

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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

LAT...LON 4731 10936 4719 10917 4719 10893 4735 10887

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, 9:25 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, 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

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes 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.