Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 13, 2001Judith Basin County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 13, 2001, 12:58 PM MDT for Judith Basin County, Montana. It was in force for 32 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 13, 2001, 12:58 PM MDT (18:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 2001, 1:30 PM MDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Judith Basin County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:01 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 nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 48 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2001-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 100 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2001-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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 
WUUS55 KTFX 131859
SVRGTF

MTC045-131930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1258 PM MDT FRI JUL 13 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL JUDITH BASIN COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF STANFORD

* UNTIL 130 PM MDT

* AT 1246 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF STANFORD...MOVING EAST AT
  30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...
  5 MILES SOUTH OF STANFORD AT 110 PM MDT

VERY LARGE HAIL IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THE STORM...PUT YOUR CAR IN A GARAGE AND MOVE TO A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

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 4715 11057 4697 11054 4696 10993 4717 10994

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 Jul 13, 9:00 AM MDT, 3 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 9:00 AM MDT, 3 hours 58 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
900 AM MDT FRI JUL 13 2001

WILL UPDATE ZONES TO FRESHEN WORDING...REMOVING MORNING CONDITIONS
AND TO BOOST POPS SLIGHTLY SOME LOCATIONS.

FORECAST ON TRACK WITH AN ACTIVE CONVECTIVE DAY EXPECTED. MODELS
STILL HAVING SOME DIFFICULTLY PLACING AND TRACKING DISTURBANCES...
MESOETA SEEMS TO HAVE THE BEST AGREEMENT WITH MORNING DEVELOPMENTS.
DISTURBANCES PUSHING INTO SOUTHWEST AND WEST CENTRAL MT THIS
MORNING...THEN STRENGTHENING OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTH EAST MT.
PRECIPITABLE WATER AT 0.79 INCHES ON TFX MORNING SOUNDING...SLIGHTLY
LESS THAN YESTERDAYS 0.86 INCHES. LI WAS CALCULATED AT -6 WITH A CAPE
OF 1720 J/KG AND CONVECTIVE TEMP OF 85. SPC KEEPS CWA UNDER SLIGHT
RISK CATEGORY AND THIS LOOKS REASONABLE. BELIEVE CURRENT POPS MAYB E
SLIGHTLY ON THE SHY SIDE...ESPECIALLY NORTH AND WILL RAISE THEM INTO
HIGHER CHANCES AND LIKELY CATEGORIES...MAINLY CENTRAL MT. PATTERN
CHANGES LITTLE ON SATURDAY AS MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES
AND AIRMASS REMAINS UNSTABLE. WILL CONTINUE WITH CHANCE POPS
SATURDAY...ESPECIALLY OVER SOUTHERN PORTION OF CWA. TEMPERATURES
REMAIN STATIC NEXT 48 HOURS.

.EXTENDED...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO MEDIUM RANGE FORECAST. UPPER
TROF MAINTAINS ITS POSITION WEST OF THE CWA WITH RESULTANT MOIST
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT PERSISTING ACROSS THE AREA. THUS EXPECT
CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY TO BE A POSSIBILITY EACH DAY. MRF AND ECMWF
CONTINUE TO BE IN GENERAL AGREEMENT WITH EACH OTHER. MRF HINTS AT
UPPER TROF FINALLY BEGINNING TO LIFT OUT BY DAY 7. EMANUEL

CCF NUMBERS
GTF TB 084 055 083 053 086 084522
CTB TB 080 053 082 051 084 083{322
HLN TB 087 055 086 054 086 085632
BZN TB 086 054 085 052 086 084532
WEY TB 078 048 078 047 081 085432
DLN TB 083 052 084 050 085 085332
HVR TB 089 058 087 056 088 083422
LWT TB 084 054 084 053 086 084632

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 11:00 AM MDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
MTZ008-011>015-045-047-049>055-131600-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1100 AM MDT FRI JUL 13 2001

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE TODAY AND SATURDAY...

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHWEST MONTANA THIS
AFTERNOON...AND THEN ACROSS CENTRAL MONTANA THIS EVENING. THIS
DISTURBANCE WILL ALLOW FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP BY MID AFTERNOON
FROM NORTHWEST MONTANA EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE INTO
SOUTHWEST MONTANA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL THEN MOVE NORTHEAST...INTO
CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA BY THIS EVENING. ANOTHER UPPER
LEVEL DISTURBANCE IS FORECASTED TO TAKE NEARLY THE SAME TRACK ON
SATURDAY.

SOME OF THE STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND AGAIN SATURDAY
AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAY BECOME SEVERE. THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL TO GOLF-BALL SIZE...WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 60 MPH...AND RAINFALL OF OVER AN INCH IN LESS THAN AN
HOUR.

THEREFORE...IF ANYONE HAS ANY TYPE OF OUTDOOR ACTIVITY PLANNED OVER
THE NEXT TWO DAYS...YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS.
LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR FAVORITE SOURCE FOR WEATHER
INFORMATION...FOR ANY WATCHES OR WARNINGS...THAT MAY BE ISSUED.

BLANK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 7:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXHill50 min
Jul 12, 7:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBlaine32 min
Jul 12, 7:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus27 min
Jul 13, 1:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJudith Basin28 min
Jul 13, 2:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGallatin28 min
Jul 13, 3:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus24 min
Jul 13, 5:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLewis and Clark40 min
Jul 13, 5:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXJefferson48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2001Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.