Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 2001, 3:06 PM MDT for Cascade County, Chouteau County, Judith Basin County, Montana. It was in force for 54 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 28, 2001, 3:06 PM MDT (21:06 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 28, 2001, 4:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Great Falls, MT
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
Counties Cascade County, MT, Chouteau County, MT, Judith Basin County, MT
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 3:10 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 E | Belt, MT | Reported by spotter in Belt...52 kt tstm wind gust reported by spotter at Belt 6 E at 1410 MST. |
| Jul 28, 3:20 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 56 E | Highwood, MT | Actual spotter location Highwood 3 SE. |
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 28, 3:00 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 25 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
- 3192 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 77 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 282109 SVRGTF MTC013-015-045-282200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 306 PM MDT SAT JUL 28 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHEASTERN CASCADE COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA NORTHWESTERN JUDITH BASIN COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA WESTERN CHOUTEAU COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF FORT BENTON * UNTIL 400 PM MDT * AT 306 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 12 MILES WEST OF HIGHWOOD TO 12 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BELT...OR FROM 13 MILES NORTHEAST OF GREAT FALLS TO 26 MILES WEST OF STANFORD...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THE GREATEST THREAT FROM THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE WINDS TO 70 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE OVER HIGHWOOD AT 330 PM MDT...AND 9 MILES SOUTH OF FORT BENTON AT 400 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 SATURDAY EVENING FOR NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA. LAT...LON 4775 11118 4711 11078 4756 11002 4813 11054
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 28, 2:45 PM MDT, 21 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 28, 2:45 PM MDT, 21 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 245 PM MDT SAT JUL 28 2001 STRONG NEGATIVELY-TILTED UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SWINGING INTO NORTHERN IDAHO/WESTERN MT THIS AFTERNOON. TROUGH WILL QUICKLY SWEEP ACROSS NRN MT AND INTO SRN SASK TONIGHT AS IT ENCOUNTERS STRONG UPPER RIDGE OVER GREAT PLAINS. ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL LIKEWISE RAPIDLY MOVE ACROSS STATE. DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT AHEAD OF TROUGH TOGETHER WITH FRONT LEFT QUADRANT OF UPPER JET OVER CENTRAL MONTANA THIS EVENING WILL ENHANCE UPWARD VERTICAL MOTION NE HALF OF GTF CWFA. PRE-FRONTAL SURFACE TROUGH OVER CENTRAL MONTANA PROVIDING FOCUS FOR CONVERGENCE. WARM...AND SLIGHTLY MOIST...SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER ERN MT WILL DESTABILIZE THE AIRMASS AHEAD OF COLD FRONT. MEANWHILE...COOL AIR BEHIND THE COLD FRONT WILL ENHANCE DOWNWARD MOTION RESULTING IN GOOD LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG FRONT...FURTHER ENHANCING THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. SPECIAL 18Z TFX SOUNDING SHOWS INVERTED-V CONFIGURATION INDICATIVE OF STRONG WINDS AND BELIEVE GREATEST THREAT WILL BE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS. MOST UNSTABLE AIR WILL BE OVER EASTERN PORTION OF GTF CWFA...18Z GGW SOUNDING SHOWS GOOD VERTICAL SHEAR AND INSTABILITY. THEREFORE EXPECT BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER THIS AREA AND AM CONCERNED WITH POSSIBILITY OF SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT... PRIMARILY OVER BLAINE AND FERGUS COUNTIES. SPC HAS THIS PORTION OF GTF CWFA UNDER SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH SEEMS REASONABLE CONSIDERING CIRCUMSTANCES. RAPID SCAN WILL COMMENCE AT 21Z AND EXPECT WATCH TO BE FORTHCOMING. BEHIND THE FRONT...DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURES COOL 10 TO 15 DEGREES SUNDAY AND THEN CHANGE LITTLE MONDAY. EXTENDED DISCUSSION...MODELS ARE IS BASIC AGREEMENT IN THE OVERALL PATTERN KEEPING THE RIDGE OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS AND GENERAL TROUGHING OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. THIS WILL KEEP THE AREA IN THE PERSISTENT SOUTHWEST FLOW. DAY 3 LOOKS UNSETTLED ACROSS THE AREA AS UPPER LEVEL ENERGY SWINGS THROUGH BUT PATTERN FAVORS A DRIER SCENARIO FOR DAYS 4 AND 5. HOWEVER...THE CHANCE OF AFTERNOON CONVECTION CAN NOT BE RULED OUT. THE PATTERN RETURNS TO A MORE FAVORABLE FLOW ON DAYS 6 AND 7 FOR A BETTER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. FEEL THE BEST SOLUTION WILL BE TO BROAD-BRUSH THE AREA FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD...PRETTY MUCH WHAT THE GOING FORECAST IS NOW. TEMPS WILL BE FAIRLY CONSISTENT REGION WIDE. GOUDSWARD GTF BB 050/076 047/076 045 06300 CTB BB 050/072 045/070 044 06100 HLN BB 052/078 048/078 047 06211 BZN BB 044/078 042/076 044 06311 WEY BB 040/070 038/070 040 06200 DLN BB 043/075 042/075 044 06210 HVR BB 050/080 048/077 046 06611 2LWT BB 047/074 045/074 045 06611
The office that day
Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 28, 3:33 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Blaine, Chouteau, Fergus, Hill | 57 min |
| Jul 28, 3:51 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Blaine, Chouteau, Fergus | 54 min |
| Jul 28, 4:15 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Chouteau, Hill | 60 min |
| Jul 28, 4:55 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Hill | 60 min |
| Jul 28, 5:01 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Blaine | 44 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.