Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 398

June 8, 20024 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 8, 2002, 1:15 PM MDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 8, 2002, 1:15 PM MDT (19:15 UTC)
Expired
Jun 8, 2002, 7:00 PM MDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Carter County, MT, Custer County, MT, Fallon County, MT, Powder River County, MT, Prairie County, MT, Wibaux County, MT, Billings County, ND, Bowman County, ND, Golden Valley County, ND, Slope County, ND, Butte County, SD, Harding County, SD, Lawrence County, SD, Meade County, SD, Pennington County, SD, Campbell County, WY, Crook County, WY

The radar

The Rapid City radar (KUDX), 221 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:17 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.

Warnings issued inside it

17 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 1:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster, Powder River63 min
Jun 8, 4:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster, Rosebud36 min
Jun 8, 4:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster24 min
Jun 8, 4:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWPrairie61 min
Jun 8, 4:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster60 min
Jun 8, 4:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster, Powder River65 min
Jun 8, 5:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster, Powder River60 min
Jun 8, 5:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZPowder River58 min
Jun 8, 5:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZFallon52 min
Jun 8, 5:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWWibaux65 min
Jun 8, 5:46 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWPrairie59 min
Jun 8, 5:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISGolden Valley50 min
Jun 8, 6:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster30 min
Jun 8, 6:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZPowder River31 min
Jun 8, 6:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGGWWibaux54 min
Jun 8, 6:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBISBillings, Golden Valley60 min
Jun 8, 6:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCuster, Powder River37 min

The nearest sounding before it

Rapid City, SD (KUNR), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 225 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, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2002-06-08Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Rapid City, SD at 12:00Z on 2002-06-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 182 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
1096 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
182 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
187 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 
WWUS20 KWNS 081852
SEL8  
SPC WW 081847
MTZ000-NDZ000-SDZ000-WYZ000-090100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 398
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1247 PM MDT SAT JUN 8 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHEAST MONTANA                            
   SOUTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA                       
   NORTHWEST SOUTH DAKOTA                       
   NORTHEAST WYOMING                            

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 115 PM UNTIL 700
PM MDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 85 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM GLENDIVE MONTANA TO 40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOORCROFT
WYOMING.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.


DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY AHEAD
OF STRONG COLD FRONT AS FRONT ENCOUNTERS INCREASINGLY FAVORABLE
ENIVORNMENT FOR SUPERCELLS IN WATCH AREA.  WITH VERY STRONG SELY
LOW LEVEL FLOW COUPLED WITH APPROACHING WIND AND VORT MAX...STORMS
WILL DEVELOP INTO ISOLATED SUPERCELLS WITH LARGE HAIL POTENTIAL
ALONG WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

470,1025 435,1023 435,1055 470,1063

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 5:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCDaniels, Dawson, McCone, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Montana, 2002Tornado Watches in South Dakota, 2002Tornado Watches in North Dakota, 2002Every tornado watch 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.