Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 85, NWS Billings, MT
NWS Billings, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 2002, 10:01 PM MDT for Custer County, Montana. It was in force for 59 min. 1 report 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, 2002, 10:01 PM MDT (04:01 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 16, 2002, 11:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Billings, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
County Custer County, MT
The radar
The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 231 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:02 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, 10:30 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 E | Kinsey, MT |
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, 5:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 232 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
- 396 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -137 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2378 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 79 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 98 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
959 WUUS55 KBYZ 170401 SVRBYZ MTC017-170500- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT 958 PM MDT TUE JUL 16 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BILLINGS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... CUSTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MONTANA THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF MILES CITY * UNTIL 1100 PM MDT * AT 958 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH DAMAGING WINDS 21 MILES NORTHWEST OF VOLBORG...OR ABOUT 24 MILES SOUTH OF MILES CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. ANOTHER SEVER THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 20 MILES SOUTH OF MIZPAH AND WAS MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... MILES CITY BY 1050 PM MDT. MIZPAH BY 1045 PM MDT. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. $$ LAT...LON 4670 10606 4582 10613 4583 10504 4648 10505 RICHMOND
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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 16, 9:28 PM MDT, 33 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 9:28 PM MDT, 33 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
928 PM MDT TUE JUL 16 2002
.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR WED...THU...FRI...
WILL BE MAKING SOME CHANGES TO THE ZONES THIS EVENING. WILL REMOVE
WESTERN AREAS FROM THE WATCH AND LOWER POPS ACCORDINGLY. WILL KEEP WATCH
GOING IN OTHER AREAS AS CONVECTION MOVING EAST AND REDEVELOPING OVER
EASTERN AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE WAS LURKING
OVER WESTERN WYOMING AND MOVING NORTH. CONVECTION OVER WEST CENTRAL
WYOMING WAS SPREADING NORTH TOWARD SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA. WILL LOWER
POPS BUT KEEP THEM SCATTERED FOR THE WYOMING BATCH. ETA WEAKENS THIS
QUITE A BIT OVERNIGHT. TEMPERATURES LOOK GOOD AND WILL VIRTUALLY LEAVE
UNTOUCHED. HUMPHREY
.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...
FRIDAY...UPPER RIDGE BEGINS TO BUILD AHEAD OF LIFTING WEST COAST TROUGH
PER NEWER AVN RUNS. WILL BUMP TEMPS UP A FEW DEGREES WITH WARMING
OCCURRING UNDER BUILDING RIDGE. WITH RIDGE AXIS OVER WESTERN DAKOTAS
BEST INSTABILITY WILL BE IN PLACE OVER THE WEST...WITH SHORTWAVE
APPROACHING BY 00Z...SO WILL TRIM BACK POPS TO INCLUDE WESTERN ZONES
ONLY ATTM.
UPPER TROUGH CURRENTLY OVER WEST COAST PROGGED TO LIFT OVER THE RIDGE
FOR THE WEEKEND. THIS BRINGS SUBSTANTIAL SHORTWAVE ENERGY ACROSS THE
AREA LATE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. WILL BACK TEMPS OFF A FEW DEGREES FOR
SATURDAY WITH TROUGH BREAKING DOWN RIDGE AND INTRODUCE CHANCE OF
STORMS...WITH ENERGY ALOFT AND LOWER LEVEL INSTABILITY IN PLACE. THE
REST OF THE EXTENDED WILL BE MAINLY DRY AS FLOW SHIFTS FROM THE
SOUTHWEST TO MORE WEST/NORTHWEST. SOME ENERGY MOVING THROUGH FLOW MAY
SET OFF A FEW STORMS DURING THE PERIOD BUT NOT ENOUGH TO WARRANT
MENTION...WITH TEMPS AROUND OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE SEASONAL AVERAGES. JZ
WED THU FRI SAT SUN MON TUE
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 065/089 063/089 063/091 064/087 063/090 063/087 063/087
33/T 32/T 22/C 33/T 30/B 00/B 00/B
LVM 058/087 056/091 057/088 056/085 056/089 056/086 056/085
33/T 33/T 33/T 33/T 30/B 00/B 00/B
HDN 063/091 061/092 063/093 065/087 064/092 064/089 064/088
63/T 32/T 20/B 33/T 30/B 00/B 00/B
MLS 070/091 068/092 065/094 066/088 066/091 066/088 066/087
62/T 22/T 20/B 33/T 30/B 00/B 00/B
4BQ 068/092 066/093 064/094 065/088 065/092 064/089 065/087
43/T 33/T 30/B 33/T 30/B 00/B 00/B
BHK 066/090 064/091 064/090 064/085 065/090 063/087 063/085
32/T 22/T 20/B 33/T 30/B 00/B 00/B
SHR 066/091 064/092 060/090 059/087 060/091 060/088 061/087
63/T 34/T 40/B 33/T 30/B 00/B 00/B
.BYZ...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 9:10 PM MDT, 51 minutes before
MTZ029-034-035-039-042-056-170415- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT 910 PM MDT TUE JUL 16 2002 ... THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN DROPPED FROM THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH...STILLWATER...CARBON...GOLDEN VALLEY... MUSSELSHELL AND YELLOWSTONE... THE THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THESE AREAS HAS DIMINISH AND HAVE BEEN DROPPED FROM THE SEVER THUNDERSTORM WATCH. RICHMOND
The office that day
Everything else NWS Billings, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 6:17 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BYZ | Musselshell, Yellowstone | 58 min |
| Jul 16, 6:47 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BYZ | Big Horn | 58 min |
| Jul 16, 7:22 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BYZ | Rosebud, Treasure | 53 min |
| Jul 16, 10:09 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BYZ | Powder River | 51 min |
| Jul 16, 11:08 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BYZ | Custer | 52 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002
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.