Alert archive / Montana / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 10, NWS Glasgow, MT

August 21, 2002Valley County, Montana

NWS Glasgow, MT issued this flash flood warning at Aug 21, 2002, 12:35 AM MDT for Valley County, Montana. It was in force for 6 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 21, 2002, 12:35 AM MDT (06:35 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 2002, 6:30 AM MDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Glasgow, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Valley County, MT

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:38 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

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 17 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 00:00Z on 2002-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 41 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 00:00Z on 2002-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 29 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
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-403 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2487 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
182 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 
WGUS55 KGGW 210635
FFWGGW
MTC105-211230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
1234 AM MDT WED AUG 21 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GLASGOW HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN VALLEY COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MONTANA

* UNTIL 630 AM MDT

* AT 1228 AM MDT...RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
  RAINFALL FROM 6 MILES NORTH OF GLASGOW TO 17 MILES WEST OF DUCK
  CREEK FISHING ACCESS SITE. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 10 MPH. 

* SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS ARE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL IN THE
  WARNED AREA. RUNOFF FROM THIS EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL CAUSE FLASH
  FLOODING TO OCCUR. SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLASH
  FLOODING INCLUDE...GLASGOW AND DUCK CREEK FISHING ACCESS SITE

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY
IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

.END

79

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Glasgow, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Aug 20, 8:45 PM MDT, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 8:45 PM MDT, 3 hours 50 minutes before
NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT
845 PM MDT TUE AUG 20 2002

.SHORT TERM...
WILL INCREASE POPS TO SEVERAL WESTERN COUNTIES FOR TONIGHT.

THUNDERSTORM CLUSTER ROLLING EAST THROUGH CENTRAL MT BEING WATCHED THIS
EVENING. THIS AREA IS NOT MOVING ALL THAT FAST (ABOUT 20-25 MPH)...AND
AM NOT CONFIDENT THAT IT WILL MAKE MUCH HEADWAY EAST INTO NE MT
OVERNIGHT. WILL BUMP UP POPS OVER SOME OF THE WESTERN ZONES
(PHILLIPS/GARFIELD AND PETROLEUM) TO 40 PERCENT...BUT LEAVE 20 PERCENTS
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE CWA. JAMBA

.LONG TERM...
MED RANGE MODELS IN SOME DISAGREEMENT ON SOLUTION THROUGH EXTENDED
PERIOD BUT GENERAL TREND IS TO DEVELOP OMEGA BLOCK TYPE PATTERN
WITH UPPER LOW OVER PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND RIDGE OVER CENTRAL CANADA.
WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS WITH PROXIMITY OF UPPER LOW AND DIFFLUENT
FLOW. EBERT

KGGW TBB 057/080 055/082 058/081 90243111
     BBBB 051/081 050/084 051/081 052/083 9011333333
KGDV TBB 057/082 058/084 058/084 90243111
     BBBB 052/082 050/083 050/082 051/084 9012333333

.GGW...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 11:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWValley52 min
Aug 21, 12:18 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWValley57 min
Aug 21, 1:19 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWValley56 min
Aug 21, 2:19 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWMcCone, Valley56 min
Aug 21, 2:44 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningGGWMcCone6 hr
Aug 21, 4:53 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWMcCone67 min
Aug 21, 10:20 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningGGWValley6 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Montana, 2002Every flash flood 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.