Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Great Falls, MT

July 23, 2002Toole County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jul 23, 2002, 6:51 PM MDT for Toole County, Montana. It was in force for 54 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 23, 2002, 6:51 PM MDT (00:51 UTC)
Expired: Jul 23, 2002, 7:45 PM MDT
In force: 54 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Toole County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:52 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 118 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: 316 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2996 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 111 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

109 
WFUS55 KTFX 240051
TORTFX
MTC101-240145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
651 PM MDT TUE JUL 23 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN TOOLE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA

* UNTIL 745 PM MDT

* AT 647 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL TOOLE COUNTY...OR ABOUT 17 MILES
  EAST OF CONRAD...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
RURAL SOUTHEASTERN TOOLE COUNTY AT 710 PM MDT

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.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM MDT
TUESDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHWESTERN MONTANA.

LAT...LON 4823 11166 4823 11132 4847 11131 4843 11166

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 23, 6:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade	60 min
Jul 23, 7:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Chouteau	45 min
Jul 23, 7:12 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Lewis and Clark	63 min
Jul 23, 7:24 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Judith Basin	66 min
Jul 23, 8:48 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	27 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.