Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 9, 2001Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 9, 2001, 6:20 AM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 35 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
Jun 9, 2001, 6:20 AM MDT (12:20 UTC)
Expired
Jun 9, 2001, 6:55 AM MDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:23 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 82 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 2001-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2001-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
999 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 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 091220
SVRGTF
MTC027-091255-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
620 AM MDT SAT JUN 9 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN FERGUS COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 655 AM MDT

* AT 615 AM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 25 MILES WEST OF WINIFRED...OR ABOUT 10 MILES  
  EAST OF SQUARE BUTTE...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  NEAR WINIFRED AROUND 645 AM MDT

LARGE HAIL AND WINDS UP TO 60 MPH 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 4771 10933 4764 10965 4762 10986 4755 10983
          4754 10992 4740 10989 4741 10969 4744 10956
          4744 10946 4746 10934 4746 10925 4747 10913
          4766 10925 4771 10925

POMEROY/COULSTON

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 Jun 9, 2:51 AM MDT, 3 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 9, 2:51 AM MDT, 3 hours 29 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
251 AM MDT SAT JUN 9 2001

THE BIGGEST CONCERN FOR FORECAST IS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX
MOVING NORTHEAST FROM MISSOULA. LAST TWO RUNS OF MESO-ETA HAVE THIS
FEATURE HANDLED VERY WELL...DEPICTING NICE 700MB CONVERGENCE/300MB
DIVERGENCE COUPLET TO MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN PART OF CWA THIS MORNING.
ALSO...00Z ETA SHOWING VERY STRONG QUASIGEOSTROPHIC CONVERGENCE WITH
THIS FEATURE. SATELLITE PICTURES SHOW COOLING CLOUD TOPS OVER THE
LAST COUPLE OF HOURS AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS BEING PUSHED NORTH
AHEAD OF THESE STORMS. SO AM FAIRLY CONFIDENT THE SHOWERS WILL
SURVIVE THE TRIP OVER THE MOUNTAINS...AND RE-INTENSIFY ONCE IT
REACHES HILL AND BLAINE COUNTIES AROUND NOON. SURFACE HEATING SHOULD
ADD SOME FUEL TO THIS SYSTEM IN THAT AREA. SO WILL GO WITH LIKELY
POPS FOR NORTHEAST PART OF CWA. PER COORDINATION WITH MSO...MAIN
THREAT FROM THE SYSTEM RIGHT NOW IS STRONG WINDS. HAIL COULD BECOME
AN ISSUE IF THE COMPLEX ENCOUNTERS DEW POINTS NEAR 50 IN THE HAVRE
AREA AS GUIDANCE INDICATES. THIS FIGURE SEEMS REASONABLE WITH
DEW P0INTS IN THE 50S CURRENTLY AS FAR NORTH AS LEWISTOWN.

AFTER THE SHOWERS PASS...WEST WINDS WILL DEVELOP AND RAPID DRYING
WILL OCCUR. ELSEWHERE...REGION WILL MOSTLY BE DRY. MODELS DEPICT SOME
RIDGING TONIGHT...BUT CANNOT RULE OUT AN EARLY EVENING THUNDERSTORM
ALONG THE PLAINS. FOR SUNDAY...MOST ENERGY RIDES NORTH OF THE AREA AS
A FAIRLY STRONG COLD FRONT TRACKS THROUGH THE REGION. CONCERN FOR
SUNDAY IS WIND ALONG THE HI-LINE AS A STRONG 700 MB FLOW PERSISTS
OVER THAT AREA.

EXTENDED...NO CHANGES TO EXTENDED. ECMWF 8 TO 10 HOURS QUICKER
THAN MRF WITH THE NEXT LOW DROPPING INTO THE REGION EARLY ON TUESDAY.
AT FIRST GLANCE SCENARIO LOOKS GOOD FOR RAIN...BUT EXAMINING THE
DETAILS...MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SYSTEM NOT AS PLENTIFUL AS I
WOULD THINK. MOSTLY DRY LOOKS GOOD FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY AS A
WEAK RIDGE BUILDS IN.

POMEROY

CCF NUMBERS
GTF EE 076/047 068/044 065 19312
CTB WE 072/045 062/045 061 19412
HLN EE 077/049 072/046 066 19211
BZN EB 076/043 070/043 066 19201
WEY BB 070/032 063/032 061 19201
DLN EB 073/037 071/042 067 19201
HVR TE 078/045 076/048 071 19612
LWT EB 074/042 072/044 064 19312=

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 9, 5:50 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau25 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.