Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 127, NWS Great Falls, MT
NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 30, 2002, 4:20 PM MDT for Glacier County, Montana. It was in force for 55 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
- Aug 30, 2002, 4:20 PM MDT (22:20 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 30, 2002, 5:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Great Falls, MT
- Area
- Whole counties
County Glacier County, MT
The radar
The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 183 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 5:02 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Cutbank, MT | A severe thunderstorm produced 1.75 inch hail at Cut Bank 6N. |
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
Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 15 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -198 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1839 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 1 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 46 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 58 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
758 WUUS55 KTFX 302220 SVRTFX MTC035-302315- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT 420 PM MDT FRI AUG 30 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... EAST CENTRAL GLACIER COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF CUT BANK * UNTIL 515 PM MDT * AT 420 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 23 MILES WEST OF CUT BANK...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. LARGE HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM MOVE TO A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN GREAT FALLS.
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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 30, 2:50 PM MDT, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 2:50 PM MDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
250 PM MDT FRI AUG 30 2002
.SHORT TERM...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE TROF OVER THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST WILL MOVE OVER THE ROCKIES BY TOMORROW MORNING. THE TROF
IS QUITE WEAK AND VERY LITTLE MOISTURE IS AVAILABLE. SOME
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON...BUT WILL
HAVE TROUBLE HOLDING TOGETHER ONCE THE HEATING ENDS. WEAK HIGH
PRESSURE WILL BUILD BEHIND THE TROF. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES
ACROSS SOUTHERN ALTA ON SUNDAY. THIS WILL DEVELOP LOW PRESSURE OVER
THE PROVINCE AND GENERATE SOME INCREASED SURFACE WINDS ACROSS THE
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ZONES. TEMPS WILL TRY TO COOL SLIGHTLY BEHIND
THE TROF SATURDAY ALTHOUGH THE PUSH OF COOLER AIR WILL HAVE TROUBLE
MOVING SOUTH. THE DOWNSLOPE WINDS AND WEAK HIGH PRESSURE ON SUNDAY
WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO WARM AGAIN THRU MONDAY. ZELZER
.EXTENDED...ANOTHER IN A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL TROUGHS DEVELOPS OVER
THE GULF OF ALASKA BY MONDAY...ROTATES ONSHORE TUESDAY...THEN PUSHES
OVER THE NORTHERN ROCKIES BY THURSDAY. THE ECMWF HOLDS THE TROUGH
BACK OVER THE WESTERN CONUS THROUGH THE WEEK...BUT EXPECT THAT THE
MORE PROGRESSIVE MRF HAS A BETTER HANDLE ON THE SITUATION. THE MRF
SOLUTION WILL DEVELOP SCATTERED CONVECTION OVER THE CWA WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY...ALONG WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES AS A SURFACE COLD FRONT
PUSHES THROUGH THE STATE. RIDGING DEVELOPS OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
ON FRIDAY FOR DRY AND SLIGHTLY WARMER WEATHER. MPJ
.CCF NUMBERS
GTF BB 055/079 048/084 050 13311
BBBBB 084/048 079/048 074/044 071/043 073 11102332100
CTB BB 050/073 045/078 048 13321
BBBBB 080/045 076/044 072/042 068/042 071 11102322110
HLN BB 057/082 053/086 054 13421
BBBBB 087/054 088/052 080/047 076/045 078 11102333200
BZN EB 046/075 045/080 043 13432
BBBBB 082/044 079/045 076/043 071/041 072 11102343200
WEY EB 036/069 037/073 035 13432
BBBBB 075/036 077/038 074/036 069/034 070 11102333200
DLN EB 046/075 045/080 044 13432
BBBBB 082/045 081/045 076/043 070/042 072 11102343100
HVR BB 056/076 050/082 048 13321
BBBBB 083/048 082/048 078/044 074/043 075 11101333210
LWT BB 052/076 048/080 048 13331
BBBBB 080/047 080/048 077/045 072/042 073 11101343100
.TFX...NONE.The office that day
Everything else NWS Great Falls, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 29, 6:17 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | TFX | Lewis and Clark | 118 min |
| Aug 30, 5:15 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TFX | Glacier, Pondera, Toole | 60 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.