Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 16, 2001Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 2001, 6:33 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 42 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 16, 2001, 6:33 PM MDT (00:33 UTC)
Expired: Jul 16, 2001, 7:15 PM MDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Whole counties

County Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 164 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:34 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
Jul 16, 6:40 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61 E	Lewistown, MT	Actual spotter location Lewistown 10 S...Measured wind gust of 52 kt reported by ASOS at Lewistown Municipal Airport (occurring at same time).
Jul 16, 6:40 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Moore, MT	Reported by spotter in Moore.
Jul 16, 7:05 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 69 E	Grassrange, MT	Actual spotter location Grassrange 10 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, 4:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 106 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: 1094 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 113 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 170033
SVRGTF

MTC027-170115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
633 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL FERGUS COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF LEWISTOWN

* UNTIL 715 PM MDT

* AT 627 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER MOORE...OR ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF
  LEWISTOWN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  7 MILES NORTHWEST OF LEWISTOWN AT 705 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 THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM MDT MONDAY
EVENING FOR NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA.

LAT...LON 4706 10975 4689 10974 4713 109W12 4738 10946

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, 3:00 PM MDT, 3 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 3:00 PM MDT, 3 hours 33 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
300 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2001

THE PATTERN IS QUITE SIMILAR TO THE PAST FEW DAYS. LOW PRESSURE
CENTERED OVER WA AND BRITISH COLUMBIA...AND A TROF EXTENDING DOWN
ACROSS THE PAC NW.  MOST OF THE INDICES LOOK A LITTLE MORE
THREATENING THAN YESTERDAY...AND CERTAINLY THE WIND SHEAR PATTERN IS
QUITE A BIT BETTER FOR SEVERE WEATHER THAN YESTERDAY. MOST
IMPORTANTLY...A SHORT WAVE PUSHES THRU LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...WITH AN ASSOCIATED SURFACE FRONT. WATCH BOX 559 HAS ALREADY
BEEN ISSUED FOR THE ERN CWA OF MSO AND MOST OF OUR CWA. TUESDAY
ONWARD NOT TOO MUCH CHANGE GOING ON.  SURFACE TEMPS SHOULD TREND A
LITTLE COOLER AS CAA CONTINUES...BUT AT THE SAME TIME THE HEIGHTS
ALOFT WILL BE DROPPING.  THUS AIRMASS REMAINS RELATIVELY UNSETTLED.
ZELZER

EXTENDED...SOME DIFFERENCE AMONG THE MODELS...BUT DO KEEP
UPPER TROUGH OVER PACIFIC NORTHWEST FOR CONTINUED MOIST AND
UNSTABLE SOUTHWEST FLOW FOR DAYS 3 AND 4. UPPER TROUGH THEN
SLITS BY DAY 5 WITH THE NORTHERN BRANCH MOVING THROUGH AREA.
WEAK UPPER RIDGE BUILDS BY DAY 6 AND 7 FOR DRY AND WARMER
WEATHER. TEMPERATURES WILL BE A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL WITH AT
OR A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.

CCF NUMBERS
GTF EE 050 078 048 074 048 135122
CTB EE 048 072 046 070 045 135122
HLN EE 050 075 048 075 048 135222
BZN EE 047 075 047 073 045 136323
WEY PEE 052 074 040 072 038 136322
DLN EE 046 072 045 072 045 135223
HVR EE 057 080 054 080 052 136122
LWT EE 050 072 050 070 048 136222

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 16, 4:47 PM MDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
447 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2001

TIME(MDT)  .....EVENT  LOCATION..... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...........
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

0230 PM    WISDOM                    MT   0.50 INCH HAIL
07/16/01   BEAVERHEAD                     USFS REPORT

0305 PM    HELENA                    MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/16/01   LEWIS  AND  CLARK

0315 PM    8 NW WOLF CREEK           MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/16/01   LEWIS  AND  CLARK

0335 PM    BOULDER                   MT   0.25 INCH HAIL
07/16/01   JEFFERSON

0415 PM    7 S EDEN                  MT   0.75 INCH HAIL
07/16/01   CASCADE

0415 PM    7 S EDEN                  MT   60 MPH TSTM GUST
07/16/01   CASCADE

NNNN

Special weather statement, Jul 16, 6:20 PM MDT, 13 minutes before

MTZ008>010-012-014-015-044-046-048-049-052>055-170120-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
620 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2001

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CANCELLED FOR SOUTHWEST AND PORTIONS OF
OF NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA...

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN CLEARED FROM THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH:

BEAVERHEAD...GLACIER...CASCADE...LEWIS AND
CLARK...MADISON...TOOLE...PONDERA...TETON...JEFFERSON...BROADWATER...
MEAGHER...AND GALLATIN COUNTIES.

THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER HAS MOVED EAST OF THE
AFOREMENTIONED AREA.

DS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 16, 7:17 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	28 min
Jul 17, 3:22 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Judith Basin	38 min
Jul 17, 4:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus, Judith Basin	45 min
Jul 17, 4:58 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	27 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2001 Every 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.