Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Billings, MT

July 13, 2001Golden Valley County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 2001, 5:29 PM MDT for Golden Valley County, Montana. It was in force for 61 min. 3 reports 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: Jul 13, 2001, 5:29 PM MDT (23:29 UTC)
Expired: Jul 13, 2001, 6:30 PM MDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Billings, MT
Area: Whole counties

County Golden Valley County, MT

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 13, 5:32 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Ryegate, MT
Jul 13, 5:48 PM MDT	Hail 2.75	Ryegate, MT	Broken windows on car and house. Funnel cloud also spotted.
Jul 13, 5:50 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Lavina, 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 13, 1:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 162 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: 100 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -251 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1561 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 41 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 132332
TORBIL
MTC037-140030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
529 PM MDT FRI JUL 13 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BILLINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN GOLDEN VALLEY COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 630 PM MDT

* AT 529 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  POSSIBLE TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RYEGATE...OR ABOUT 12        
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF LAVINA. THE STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20     
  MPH.  

* THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR RYEGATE AT 535 PM...
  CUSHMAN AT 540 PM...
  LAVINA AT 550 PM

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WHICH
WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

$$

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM MDT FRIDAY
EVENING FOR SOUTHEASTERN MONTANA. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ALSO
REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM MDT FRIDAY EVENING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL
MONTANA.

LAT...LON 4623 10939 4615 10934 4625 10891 4642 10921

KUHL/CANEPA

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 Jul 13, 2:17 PM MDT, 3 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 2:17 PM MDT, 3 hours 12 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
217 PM MDT FRI JUL 13 2001

.SAT AND SUN...

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR THE WEST AND CENTRAL
ZONES UNTIL 700 PM MDT...

CONVECTION IS FIRING UP TO THE WEST OF THE CWA AT THIS TIME. SAME OLD
PATTERN IS SEEN ON SATELLITE IMAGERY...IN FACT...LITTLE CHANGE IN THE
OVERALL PATTERN SINCE THE END OF JUNE. HPC HAS NOTED THAT WHENEVER THIS
PATTERN HAS OCCURRED...IT HAS ESSENTIALLY REMAINED THE SAME INTO AUGUST.
RIDGE IS CENTERED OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION WITH AN UPPER LOW OFF THE
CALIFORNIA COAST. ANOTHER UPPER LOW IS OVER BAJA CALIFORNIA. ALL THESE
FEATURES ARE COMBINING TO BRING UP MONSOONAL MOISTURE OUT OF MEXICO...
AS WELL AS EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES.

IN GENERAL WILL BE FOLLOWING THE AVN...WHICH HAS A BETTER DEPICTION OF
THE FEATURES. PATTERN REMAINS THE SAME THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH
EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES AND JET MAXES...WHICH WILL BE HARD TO TIME. AVN
PRECIPITABLE WATER AND BOUNDARY LAYER WIND PROGS INDICATE LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE ADVECTING INTO THE STATE FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO. EXPECT THE
CAP IN THE SOUTHEAST TO BREAK THIS EVENING...FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT. THERE APPEARS TO BE GOOD DIRECTIONAL
SHEAR...WHICH SHOULD KEEP THE CONVECTION ORGANIZED.

WITH THIS PATTERN...THERE WILL BE THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THE ONLY QUESTION WILL BE WHERE IN
THE CWA WILL THE CONVECTIVE COMPLEXES BE. IT WILL ALSO REMAIN
UNSEASONABLY HUMID FOR THIS AREA...WITH THE CONTINUED ADVECTION OF THE
LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. STROBIN

.MON...TUE...WED...THU...FRI...
AVN/MRF/UKMET/ECMWF ALL SHOWING THE SAME PATTERN OR A SIMILAR PATTERN
THROUGH WEDNESDAY OF LOW DIGGING ALONG THE WEST COAST WITH ASSOCIATED
TROUGH EXTENDING TOWARD SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. THIS SCENARIO WOULD KEEP
THE SOUTHWEST FLOW OVER THE REGION WITH WARM TEMPS AND SCATTERED LATE
AFTERNOON SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST FOR EACH DAY. BEYOND
WEDNESDAY PER THE MRF...LOW LIFTS OUT INTO CANADA...YET THE SOUTHWEST
FLOW CONTINUES. NO CHANGE IN WEATHER PATTERN BEYOND WEDNESDAY EXPECTED.
SPRINGER

    SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU     FRI
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 062/090 062/090 061/088 061/085 058/082 058/082 056/082
    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    33/T    33/T
LVM 060/088 052/088 055/086 057/084 057/081 055/081 053/078
    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    33/T    33/T
HDN 060/092 060/092 060/088 060/088 058/085 055/085 055/083
    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    33/T    33/T
MLS 065/095 065/095 065/091 065/088 062/086 059/084 059/084
    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    33/T    33/T
4BQ 063/094 063/094 064/092 064/087 062/085 057/085 057/084
    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    33/T    33/T
BHK 062/093 062/093 064/089 064/087 061/085 058/083 058/083
    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    33/T    33/T
SHR 058/091 058/091 059/089 061/087 059/083 059/083 057/081
    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    44/T    33/T    33/T

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 12, 7:41 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Carter	64 min
Jul 12, 7:48 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Golden Valley	42 min
Jul 12, 8:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Musselshell	60 min
Jul 12, 9:04 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Golden Valley	41 min
Jul 12, 9:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Musselshell	60 min
Jul 13, 4:17 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Sweet Grass, Wheatland	58 min
Jul 13, 5:09 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BYZ	Golden Valley	66 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.