Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 47, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 14, 2002Glacier County, Toole County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 14, 2002, 1:15 AM MDT for Glacier County, Toole County, Montana. It was in force for 30 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jul 14, 2002, 1:15 AM MDT (07:15 UTC)
Expired: Jul 14, 2002, 1:45 AM MDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Glacier County, MT, Toole County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:15 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
Jul 14, 1:45 AM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56 M	Cutbank, MT	A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust of 65 mph near Black Feet.

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.

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

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 183 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: 907 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -127 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 3402 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 39 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.

800 
WUUS55 KTFX 140715
SVRTFX
MTC035-101-140745-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
113 AM MDT SUN JUL 14 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
  WEST CENTRAL TOOLE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 145 AM MDT

* AT 105 AM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER CUT BANK...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
RURAL EASTERN GLACIER COUNTY AT 130 AM MDT
RURAL WESTERN TOOLE COUNTY AT 130 AM MDT

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS STORM IS STRONG GUSTY WINDS. WIND GUSTS UP 
TO 65 MPH HAVE BEEN REPORTED.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN GREAT FALLS.

LAT...LON 4863 11249 4849 11228 4869 11192 4887 11224

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 Jul 13, 8:55 PM MDT, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 8:55 PM MDT, 4 hours 20 minutes before

SOUTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
855 PM MDT SAT JUL 13 2002

.SHORT TERM...WILL UPDATE THIS EVENING TO FRESHEN WORDING. SATELLITE
IMAGERY INDICATING AMPLE MOISTURE ROTATING INTO SOUTHWEST AND
SOUTHERN MONTANA. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN FIRED UP OVER THE
MOUNTAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON BUT MADE LITTLE HEADWAY AS THEY MOVED
OVER THE PLAINS. 00Z ETA CONTINUES TO SHIFT UPPER RIDGE AXIS EAST
TONIGHT AND SUNDAY WITH AN INCREASING BACKING FLOW ALOFT OVER THE
CWA. LOOKS LIKE A BETTER DAY FOR CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY SUNDAY. SPC
PAINTS THE AREAS EAST OF GREAT FALLS WITH A SLIGHT RISK. CURRENT
FORECAST HAS THIS WELL COVERED. EMANUEL

.EXTENDED...MODELS SHOWING A LITTLE BETTER CONSISTENCY. UPPER RIDGE
AXIS SHIFTS EAST WEDNESDAY WITH UNSTABLE AND MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW
ALOFT OVER THE CWA. FLOW ALOFT BECOMES WEAKLY WEST-SOUTHWEST
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. WEAK IMPULSES MOVE THROUGH THIS FLOW AND WILL
CONTINUE WITH ISOLATED CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. FLOW BUCKLES ACROSS THE
SOUTH SATURDAY AS SHORT WAVE MOVES ACROSS. CHANCE OF CONVECTIVE
ACTIVITY ACROSS THE SOUTH DAY 7. TEMPERATURES REMAIN FAIRLY STATIC
THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH READINGS WARMING TO NEAR 90 BY THE WEEKEND.

.CCF NUMBERS
GTF TB 062/099 060/094 055 03033
    BBBBB 092/053 088/053 087/053 090/053 090 01233322222
CTB TB 062/090 055/086 052 03122
    BBBBB 085/050 084/050 084/050 086/050 086 01133211111
HLN TB 066/100 062/094 057 03233
    BBBBB 092/056 090/054 087/054 090/054 090 11333322322
BZN TB 058/099 057/092 050 03233
    BBBBB 090/050 086/050 086/050 090/050 090 22333322223
WEY TB 052/096 047/086 043 03233
    BBBBB 085/042 083/042 083/042 085/042 086 22333333333
DLN TB 062/098 058/090 053 03233
    BBBBB 088/051 086/051 085/051 090/051 090 22333322322
HVR TB 062/100 062/094 058 03133
    BBBBB 092/056 089/055 086/055 091/055 091 01233321111
LWT TB 062/099 063/092 055 03133
    BBBBB 090/055 087/055 086/055 090/055 090 11233322222=

.TFX...FIRE WEATHER WATCH FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR FIRE
       ZONES 112...113...114...115...116...117...118.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 14, 5:29 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Lewis and Clark	31 min

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.