Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 46, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 2001, 2:53 PM MDT for Jefferson County, Lewis and Clark County, Montana. It was in force for 37 min. 2 reports came from 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, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 16, 2001, 2:53 PM MDT (20:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 16, 2001, 3:30 PM MDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Great Falls, MT
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 3:05 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Helena, MT | Reported by spotter in Helena. |
| Jul 16, 3:15 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Wolf Creek, MT | Actual event location Wolf Creek 8 NW. |
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 16, 1:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 146 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1797 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 15 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 56 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS55 KTFX 162054 SVRGTF MTC043-049-162130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 253 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... EXTREME NORTHEASTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST MONTANA SOUTHEASTERN LEWIS AND CLARK COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF HELENA * UNTIL 330 PM MDT * AT 248 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 24 MILES NORTHWEST OF HELENA TO 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HELENA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. * SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... OVER MONTANA CITY...HELENA AT 310 PM MDT OVER EAST HELENA AT 320 PM MDT REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN GREAT FALLS. A SEVERE THUNDER=STORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM MDT MONDAY EVENING FOR WESTERN MONTANA. LAT...LON 4681 11254 4650 11220 4651 11179 4711 11204
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 16, 9:20 AM MDT, 5 hours 33 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 9:20 AM MDT, 5 hours 33 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 920 AM MDT MON JUL 16 2001 ...UPDATE PLANNED FOR THIS MORNING... UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE TROF OVER THE WEST COAST IS SLOWLY MOVING EAST. SATELLITE INDICATES A SHORTWAVE OVER THE OR/ID BORDER AND MODELS INIT THIS WELL. SPC HAS MOST OF CWA IN SLIGHT RISK CATEGORY. NOTHING REAL STRONG TO INDICATE SEVERE WEATHER...ALTHOUGH COMPARED TO YESTERDAY...MOST INDICES SLIGHTLY MORE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE. CAPE AND LI MORE UNSTABLE...HELICITY INCREASES...AND BULK RICHARDSON IS FORECAST IN MID 20S COMPARED TO 100S YESTERDAY. UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT LOOKS BETTER WITH CONTINUED VEERING AND SOME INCREASE IN SPEEDS ALOFT. CONVECTION WILL DEVELOP FROM HEATING ALONE ALTHOUGH TIMING OF SHORT WAVE WILL BE IMPORTANT FOR SEVERE...AND THIS CURRENTLY APPEARS TO BE A LATE AFTERNOON EVENT. WILL DROP A FEW TEMPS IN THE SW OTHERWISE GENERALLY LEAVE FORECAST AS IS. ZELZER EXTENDED...LATEST AVN BROUGHT A CLOSED UPPER LOW THROUGH THE NRN ZONES LATER THU NIGHT INTO FRI. LATEST AVAILABLE ECMWF WAS WEAKER AND SLOWER WITH THIS SHORTWAVE. JUST CHECKED LATEST MRF AND IT IS SLOWER AND WEAKER THAN THE AVN WITH THE SHORTWAVE. BASED ON LATEST ECMWF AND MRF CURRENT FORECAST POPS FOR THU AND FRI LOOK A LITTLE WEAK SO WILL BUMP THEM UP TO THE CHANCE CATEGORY. CCF NUMBERS GTF BB 080/050 076/048 080 04441 CTB BN 077/047 072/045 076 04221H HLN TE 079/053 077/051 080 04552 BZN TE 080/050 079/050 081 04553 WEY TE 078/046 075/046 077 04553 DLN TE 074/048 076/046 077 04532 HVR BB 090/055 085/053 090 04161 LWT BE 081/051 076/051 080 04362
The office that day
Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 2:58 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Lewis and Clark | 32 min |
| Jul 16, 3:53 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade | 37 min |
| Jul 16, 3:55 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade, Meagher | 35 min |
| Jul 16, 4:28 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Cascade, Judith Basin, Meagher | 47 min |
| Jul 16, 4:34 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Glacier, Pondera, Toole | 41 min |
| Jul 16, 5:18 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Toole | 42 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.