Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Billings, MT

July 22, 2002Rosebud County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 2002, 10:44 PM MDT for Rosebud County, Montana. It was in force for 61 min. 2 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 22, 2002, 10:44 PM MDT (04:44 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 2002, 11:45 PM MDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Rosebud County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 151 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:44 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 22, 10:50 PM MDTHail 0.75Colstrip, MT
Jul 22, 10:52 PM MDTHail 1Colstrip, 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 nearest sounding before it

Riverton, WY (KRIW), launched 00:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 375 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, Riverton, WY at 00:00Z on 2002-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1397 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Riverton, WY at 00:00Z on 2002-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1397 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2129 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 22, 8:10 PM MDT, 2 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 8:10 PM MDT, 2 hours 34 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
810 PM MDT MON JUL 22 2002

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR TUE...WED...THU...
NO UPDATES TO AFP...UPDATES TO ZFP. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY MOVING THROUGH
SOUTHERN ZONES AS EXPECTED THIS EVENING AND SHOULD GRADUALLY WORK EAST
OVER THE COURSE OF THE EVENING. FORECAST IN GOOD SHAPE HANDLING TIMING
AND COVERAGE OF STORMS SO NO CHANGES NECESSARY AT THIS TIME TO POPS.
WINDS HAVE REMAINED BREEZY ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING AND WILL STAY
THAT WAY TILL AROUND MIDNIGHT OR SO...SO WILL FRESHEN WORDING TO ACCOUNT
FOR THIS. MINOR CHANGES TO ZONES ON THE WAY. MACZKO

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR FRI...SAT...SUN...MON...
THURSDAY...UPPER FLOW REMAINS OUT OF THE WEST TO NORTHWEST OVER THE
AREA. SOME SHORTWAVE ENERGY PROGGED TO TRANSLATE THROUGH FLOW DURING
THE DAY...AND ATMOSPHERE DESTABILIZES DURING THE AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...
FLOW REMAINS DOWNSLOPE THROUGH 700MB AND UNFAVORABLE JET DYNAMICS IN
LEFT ENTRANCE REGION SHOULD LIMIT THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL ACROSS THE
AREA. WILL TRIM BACK TO ISOLATED POPS ALL BUT MOUNTAIN AREAS. WITH
DOWNSLOPE FLOW TEMPS SHOULD BE ABLE TO MIX DOWN FROM 700MB...SO TEMPS
WILL BE AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. SHORTWAVE ENERGY CONTINUES TO
TRANSLATE THROUGH ZONAL FLOW ON FRIDAY. ENERGY CURRENTLY PROGGED TO
AFFECT MAINLY THE SOUTHERN AREA OF CWA...BUT WILL CONTINUE TO BROADBRUSH
SCATTERED POPS AS ATMOSPHERE DESTABILIZES OVER ENTIRE CWA. SATURDAY INTO
SUNDAY AXIS OF UPPER LOW CENTERED IN CANADA ROTATES THROUGH MONTANA
BRINGING A COOL DOWN AND ANOTHER CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION. ECMWF SHOWING
SIMILAR SCENARIO TO THE EXTENDED AVN...SO WILL TREND TOWARD THIS
SCENARIO. RIDGE BEGINS TO REBOUND INTO MONTANA FOR MONDAY...FOR DRIER
AND SLIGHTLY WARMER WEATHER. JZ

    TUE     WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 055/090 061/091 059/086 062/086 060/085 059/083 060/085
    32/T    70/B    22/T    23/T    30/B    33/T    00/B
LVM 052/085 057/084 053/083 056/084 054/082 052/082 054/084
    35/T    52/T    23/T    33/T    30/B    33/T    00/B
HDN 056/091 061/091 057/088 060/088 058/086 058/084 059/084
    30/B    70/B    22/T    23/T    30/B    33/T    00/B
MLS 060/090 064/092 060/090 065/089 062/086 060/083 061/083
    20/B    77/T    32/T    23/T    30/B    33/T    00/B
4BQ 061/092 063/094 059/090 064/088 060/087 058/085 060/083
    32/T    77/T    22/T    23/T    30/B    33/T    00/B
BHK 057/088 059/090 058/088 061/085 057/085 055/081 057/080
    22/T    77/T    32/T    23/T    30/B    33/T    00/B
SHR 055/091 059/093 056/088 060/085 057/085 057/082 058/085
    40/E    70/G    23/T    33/T    30/B    33/T    00/B

.BYZ...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 8:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZBig Horn56 min
Jul 23, 4:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCarbon, Stillwater61 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.