Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Billings, MT

June 18, 2001Custer County, Rosebud County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 2001, 1:30 AM MDT for Custer County, Rosebud County, Montana. It was in force for 30 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: Jun 18, 2001, 1:30 AM MDT (07:30 UTC)
Expired: Jun 18, 2001, 2:00 AM MDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Billings, MT
Area: Whole counties

Counties Custer County, MT, Rosebud County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 194 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:33 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
Jun 18, 2:10 AM MDT	Hail 0.75	Miles City, 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
Jun 18, 1:00 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 00:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 223 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2571 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 47 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.

000 
WFUS55 KBYZ 180731
TORBIL

MTC017-087-180800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
130 AM MDT MON JUN 18 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BILLINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN CUSTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA
  EAST CENTRAL ROSEBUD COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA

* UNTIL 200 AM MDT

* AT 127 AM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER BRANDENBERG...OR ABOUT 16 MILES EAST OF
  COLSTRIP...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF...
  EASTERN ROSEBUD AND SOUTHWESTERN CUSTER COUNTIES.

AT 129 AM MDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 4 MILES 
SOUTHEAST OF COLSTRIP.

IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME...ABANDON IT AND GO TO A NEARBY STURDY
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD!

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 AM MDT MONDAY
MORNING FOR SOUTHEAST MONTANA.

$$

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jun 17, 8:42 PM MDT, 4 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 8:42 PM MDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
842 PM MDT SUN JUN 17 2001

.MON AND TUE...
NO UPDATES NEEDED TONIGHT. VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE ENTERING WESTERN MONTANA
WILL PUSH ACROSS EASTERN MONTANA TONIGHT. NEW ETA HITTING THE QPF HARD
ACROSS MOST AREAS THROUGH 12Z...WITH STRONG LIFT AFTER 06Z. CURRENTLY
IN THE WEST...CONVECTION SPREADING FROM THE SOUTHWEST COVERING MOST
COUNTIES WEST OF BILLINGS. TO THE EAST...AIRMASS UNSTABLE...BUT CAPPED
OUT WITH SOME WEAK ELEVATED CONVECTION ABOVE CAP. CAP SHOULD BREAK LATER
TONIGHT AFTER DYNAMICS ARRIVE. ALREADY HAD ONE SEVERE STORM TONIGHT...
AND WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE MORE TONIGHT. WILL TAKE A WAIT AND SEE
APPROACH TO ANY WEATHER WATCHES...PER COORDINATION WITH SPC. SCARLETT

.WED...THU...FRI...SAT...SUN...
SHOWERS WILL LINGER ACROSS SOUTHEAST MONTANA TUESDAY NIGHT AND
WEDNESDAY AS A SHORTWAVE IN NORTHWEST FLOW AFFECTS THAT AREA. AFTER
THAT...A STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER MONTANA...BRINGING
HOT AND DRY WEATHER TO THE AREA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. THE RIDGE AXIS
WILL MOVE INTO EASTERN MONTANA SATURDAY AND INTO THE DAKOTAS SUNDAY...
ALLOWING THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA WEST OF THE AXIS.
MIDDENDORF

    MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 050/069 047/070 049/078 055/086 059/092 060/090 060/088
    73/T    22/W    00/U    00/U    00/U    03/T    33/T
LVM 045/067 043/070 043/077 048/085 052/089 055/088 053/085
    83/T    32/W    00/U    00/U    00/U    03/T    33/T
HDN 048/070 045/071 045/082 051/089 055/095 057/094 057/092
    73/T    22/W    00/U    00/U    00/U    03/T    33/T
MLS 054/064 048/073 049/077 055/087 059/092 062/094 062/094
    66/T    40/B    32/W    00/U    00/U    02/B    23/T
4BQ 053/063 047/072 047/075 053/085 057/090 060/092 060/092
    66/T    40/B    32/W    00/U    00/U    02/B    23/T
BHK 052/062 046/071 045/075 050/085 055/090 058/092 058/092
    66/T    40/B    32/W    00/U    00/U    02/B    23/T
SHR 048/071 043/072 043/077 048/085 052/091 055/091 055/089
    63/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/Uq    03/T    33/T

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 17, 9:03 PM MDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS, MT
903 PM MDT SUN JUN 17 2001

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0713 PM    ABSAROKEE                 MT   1.25 INCH HAIL
06/17/01   STILLWATER                     HAILSTORM LASTED FROM 705
                                          PM TO 713 PM.

0721 PM    7 S COLUMBUS              MT   1.00 INCH HAIL
06/17/01   STILLWATER

JRS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 17, 6:43 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Stillwater, Sweet Grass	62 min
Jun 17, 7:36 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Carbon	24 min
Jun 18, 12:11 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Big Horn, Treasure	49 min
Jun 18, 12:44 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Rosebud	46 min
Jun 18, 1:49 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Powder River	41 min
Jun 18, 1:59 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Custer	31 min
Jun 18, 2:26 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Carter	64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 2001 Every tornado warning in 2001 Tornadoes in 2001

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.