Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 28, 2002Fergus County, Judith Basin County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 28, 2002, 9:00 PM MDT for Fergus County, Judith Basin 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: Jun 28, 2002, 9:00 PM MDT (03:00 UTC)
Expired: Jun 28, 2002, 9:30 PM MDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Fergus County, MT, Judith Basin County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:02 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
Jun 28, 9:00 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Moore, MT	A severe thunderstorm moved across the far eastern portions of Judith Basin County and into the far western sections of Fergus county around 2000 MST. Wind gusts to near 70 mph were reported from Hobson to Hilger, with 60 mph winds recorded in Lewistown A torn

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 28, 5:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 91 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2586 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 87 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 
WFUS55 KTFX 290300
TORTFX
MTC027-045-290330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
859 PM MDT FRI JUN 28 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL FERGUS COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA
  EXTREME EAST CENTRAL JUDITH BASIN COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 930 PM MDT

* AT 856 PM MDT...SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTH OF 
  MOORE...OR ABOUT 21 MILES SOUTHWEST OF   LEWISTOWN...MOVING 
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4700 10987 4678 10973 4690 10923 4711 10951

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 28, 6:23 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Gallatin	37 min
Jun 28, 9:33 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	27 min
Jun 28, 10:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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.