Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Glasgow, MT

July 20, 2001Richland County, Montana

NWS Glasgow, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 2001, 8:14 PM MDT for Richland County, Montana. It was in force for 61 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 20, 2001, 8:14 PM MDT (02:14 UTC)
Expired: Jul 20, 2001, 9:15 PM MDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Glasgow, MT
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Richland County, MT

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 163 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:18 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 20, 5:30 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 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: 996 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -183 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1651 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 331 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 373 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WFUS55 KGGW 210214
TORGGW

MTC083-210315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
814 PM MDT FRI JUL 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GLASGOW HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN RICHLAND COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MONTANA

* UNTIL 915 PM MDT

* AT 812 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SAVAGE...OR ABOUT 22 MILES NORTHEAST
  OF GLENDIVE...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  SAVAGE AT 820 PM MDT

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.

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY
ISSUED FOR THE AREA.

LAT...LON 4809 10466 4786 10476 4765 10480 4763 10459
          4755 10456 4753 10451 4738 10449 4738 10418
          4742$ 10412 4743 10407 4768 10409 4797 10407

.END
99

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 Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jul 20, 2:15 PM MDT, 5 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 2:15 PM MDT, 5 hours 59 minutes before

NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
215 PM MDT FRI JUL 20 2001

SW FLOW WITH DISTURBANCES RIPPLING THROUGH THE FLOW WILL CONTINUE AFFECT
THE AREA INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. THIS MEANS SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL WILL
CONTINUE. ETA AND AVN IN FAIR AGREEMENT THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH
PLACEMENT OF SYSTEMS. 500 MB VORT LOBE OVER ALBERTA WITH THE TROF
EXTENDING DOWN INTO THE PAC NW LIFTS OUT INTO MANITOBA BY LATE
SUNDAY. AT 00Z MON...LI/S DROP TO BELOW 0 IN A PORTION OF THE CWA WITH
A WEAK UPPER RIDGE PUSHING IN FROM WESTERN MT. JAMBA

EXTENDED...MRF IN DISAGREEMENT WITH ECMWF AND CANADIAN GEM MODELS
BEYOND DAY 4. A REX BLOCK THAT THE MODELS AGREE WITH SUN/MON SPINS
INTO A DIFFERENT SOLUTION BY ALL MODELS BY TUE. MRF PULLS THE
LOW ACROSS MT AND KEEPS THE CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE CWA
THROUGH FRI...WHILE THE CANADIAN AND THE ECMWF BUILD THE RIDGE OVER
MT WITH THE LOW STAYING NEAR THE WEST COAST. WILL KEEP WITH THE
CHANCES OF STORMS THROUGH WED...WITH A MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS FOR THU
AND FRI. JAMBA

KGGW 062/088 064/085 057/082 058/083 058/083 058/084 057/085
     TTTTTBB  764352/7633322
KGDV 065/089 064/085 059/084 059/084 059/084 058/085 057/086
     TTTTTBB  765352/7633322

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 20, 7:50 PM MDT, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
750 PM MDT FRI JUL 20 2001

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

0500 PM    24 S GLASGOW              MT   1.75 INCH HAIL
07/20/01   VALLEY

0630 PM    20 SW VIDA                MT   .75 INCH HAIL
07/20/01   MCCONE

0604 PM    20 W BROCKWAY             MT   4-5 INCH HAIL
07/20/01   MCCONE                         TRUCK HEAVILY DAMAGED

0555 PM    12 SE FORT PECK           MT   4.50 INCH HAIL
07/20/01   VALLEY

0430 PM    10 S HINSDALE             MT   TORNADO
07/20/01   VALLEY                         CROSSED  COUNTY LINE

0600 PM    8 S FORT PECK             MT   2.00 INCH HAIL
07/20/01   GARFIELD                       HAILED FOR 30 MINUTES

0622 PM    22 NW CIRCLE              MT   TORNADO
07/20/01   MCCONE                         LARGE TORNADO. MULTIPLE
                                          VORTICES.

0451 PM    24 N BRUSETT              MT   96 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
07/20/01   GARFIELD

0700 PM    CIRCLE                    MT   WIND DAMAGE
07/20/01   MCCONE                         60 MPH WIND. TREES RIPPED
                                          DOWN.

0320 PM    11 E SUN PRAIRIE          MT   TORNADO
07/20/01   PHILLIPS                       SPOTTED BY NWS PERSONNEL
                                          IN GLASGOW

0340 PM    35 SW HINSDALE            MT   TORNADO
07/20/01   VALLEY                         SPOTTED BY NWS PERSONNEL
                                          IN GLASGOW

0400 PM    20 S GLASGOW              MT   TORNADO
07/20/01   VALLEY                         HEADING TOWARD FORT PECK

0515 PM    OPHEIM                    MT   TORNADO
07/20/01   VALLEY                         FUNNEL CLOUDS SPOTTED BY
                                          PUBLIC

0531 PM    21 N POPLAR               MT   TORNADO
07/20/01   ROOSEVELT                      PUBLIC REPORTED

WRIGHT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 20, 6:15 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GGW	McCone	60 min
Jul 20, 6:28 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	GGW	Garfield, McCone	3 hr
Jul 20, 6:41 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	Sheridan	64 min
Jul 20, 6:56 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GGW	Dawson	64 min
Jul 20, 7:09 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	Richland	66 min
Jul 20, 7:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	McCone	60 min
Jul 20, 7:24 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	Roosevelt	66 min
Jul 20, 7:25 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	Prairie	65 min
Jul 20, 7:57 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GGW	Dawson	63 min
Jul 20, 8:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	Prairie	60 min
Jul 20, 8:35 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	GGW	Dawson, Prairie	6 hr
Jul 20, 8:43 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GGW	Wibaux	62 min
Jul 20, 9:27 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	Dawson	63 min
Jul 20, 10:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	Wibaux	60 min
Jul 21, 5:23 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GGW	Phillips	67 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.