Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Missoula, MT

July 25, 2002Granite County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 25, 2002, 9:07 PM MDT for Granite County, Montana. It was in force for 38 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 25, 2002, 9:07 PM MDT (03:07 UTC)
Expired: Jul 25, 2002, 9:45 PM MDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Missoula, MT
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Granite County, MT

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 00:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 238 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -88 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2822 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 44 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.

450 
WUUS55 KMSO 260307
SVRMSO
MTC039-260345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
905 PM MDT THU JUL 25 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN GRANITE COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 945 PM MDT

* AT 905 PM MDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF QUIGLEY...OR 23 MILES SOUTH OF MISSOULA...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...
  3 MILES NORTHWEST OF QUIGLEY AT 925 PM MDT

LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. IN ADDITION...DAMAGING WINDS 
IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH IS POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR 
PROTECTION...GO INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE 
CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE TO A WELL PROTECTED AREA.


LAT...LON 4661 11380 4650 11384 4665 11350 4668 11354

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 Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 25, 1:55 PM MDT, 7 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 25, 1:55 PM MDT, 7 hours 12 minutes before

WESTERN MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL IDAHO FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
155 PM MDT THU JUL 25 2002

.SHORT TERM...CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH A VORT CENTER OVER EASTERN
WASHINGTON HAS BEEN CONFINED TO THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE...WITH A FEW
CELL DRIFTING OVER THE MONTANA BORDER. BETTER CONVECTION BEGINNING TO
FIRE UP ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ZONES WHERE ANOTHER VORT MAX LOCATED. IN
ADDITION...AN AREA OF UPPER-LEVEL DIVERGENCE/LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE
RESIDED IN THE SAME AREA. THUS...EXPECT SCATTERED TSTORMS ACTIVITY
ACROSS THE SOUTH AND ISOLATED COVERAGE FARTHER NORTH. THERE IS A
POTENTIAL FOR A FEW STORMS BECOMING SEVERE OVER LEMHI COUNTY AND
BUTTE/SILVERBOW AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING. AN UPPER TROUGH WILL PASS
THROUGH THE REGION TONIGHT...FOLLOWED BY WEAK RIDGING IN THE
NORTHWEST FLOW FOR FRI. WILL KEEP LOW/NO POPS IN FOR FRI...WITH
SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS.

FRI NIGHT/SAT...ANOTHER SHORT-WAVE TROUGH WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE
REGION. THIS SYSTEM DOES NOT LOOK VERY MOIST...BUT SHOULD PROVIDE
A COOLER SHOT OF AIR AND BREEZY CONDITIONS. SATURDAY WILL BE OUR
COOLEST DAY WITH JUST SLIGHT CHANCE POPS.

SUN...TEMPS WILL BEGIN TO RECOVER AS WE TRANSITION TO A FLAT RIDGE
PATTERN. MSJ

.LONG TERM...A HIGH AMPLITUDE RIDGE BUILDS IN OVER THE WEST CENTRAL
UNITED STATES MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL MAKE FOR ABOVE
NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRY CONDITIONS. ON THURSDAY...A LONGWAVE
TROUGH ENTERS THE AREA BREAKING DOWN THE RIDGE FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE
FOR SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS AND SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES.
GILCHRIST

.MSO...NONE.

...7-DAY SPOT TEMPS AND POPS...
LIB EBB 055/088 053/080 048/082 35212000
     BBBB 050/088 052/090 055/093 055/091 3300000011
FCA EBB 051/080 050/076 045/077 35202000
     BBBB 047/082 048/085 050/087 050/085 3300000011
POL EBB 057/083 056/075 053/075 35201100
     BBBB 052/081 055/084 056/086 056/085 3300000011
MSO EBB 054/087 052/078 047/082 35301200
     BBBB 049/087 053/090 054/092 053/088 3300000011
HMM EBB 055/086 051/079 045/081 35301000
     BBBB 051/086 052/089 055/091 053/087 3300000011
BTM EBB 049/080 047/076 042/075 35420000
     BBBB 043/080 045/085 047/089 047/084 3300000000
ORO BBU 060/092 060/083 056/087 35200000
     UBBB 060/093 062/096 063/096 062/090 3300000011
GRV BBU 056/085 053/079 050/083 35200000
     UBBB 054/088 057/091 058/091 056/085 3300000011
SMN BBU 050/083 050/078 046/079 35400000
     BBBB 047/085 050/087 054/089 052/085 3300000000

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2002 Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.