Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Billings, MT

July 8, 2003Custer County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 8, 2003, 5:02 PM MDT for Custer County, Montana. It was in force for 58 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 8, 2003, 5:02 PM MDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 2003, 6:00 PM MDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Whole counties

County Custer County, MT

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 231 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:02 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 8, 2:05 PM MDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 232 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 12:00Z on 2003-07-08Temperature 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 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 12:00Z on 2003-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 147 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
1591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
263 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 8, 2:29 PM MDT, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 2:29 PM MDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
229 PM MDT TUE JUL 08 2003

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR WED AND THU...
UPPER WAVE IS HEADING THROUGH THE WESTERN ZONES EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.
CLOUDS EARLIER IN THE DAY HELPED KEEP TEMPERATURES FROM REACHING THE
80S IN MOST LOCATIONS...THUS THE ENVIRONMENT IS FAIRLY CAPPED.  700MB
TEMPS WERE 10C PER 18Z ACARS...WHICH IS CLOSE THE ETA.  700MB TEMPS
SHOULD DROP ANOTHER 4C THIS AFTERNOON...BUT IT MAY BE TOO LATE FOR
MANY SIGNIFICANT STORMS TO DEVELOP WEST OF ROSEBUD COUNTY.  SOUTHEAST
WINDS GUSTING TO 35 MPH NEAR BHK ALSO HELP KEEPED THE INVERSION
HOLDING STRONG THERE DESPTIE MORE SUNSHINE.  SO AS THE WAVE HEADS EAST
OVER THE AREA...IT APPEARS THE STORMS WILL REMAIN ELEVATED IN NATURE
OVER THE NORTH HALF OF THE CWA. STRONG SHEAR WILL BE PRESENT ALONG WITH
A QUICK BURST OF DECENT ASCENT. THIS MAY AID IN AN ISOLATED SEVERE
STORM OVER THE NE CORNER.  THE COLD FRONT APPEARS TO BE WORKING ITS WAY
THROUGH TREASURE AND BIG HORN COUNTIES PER 20Z RADAR.  THIS FEATURE WILL
LIKELY BE THE FOCUS FOR ANY CONVECITON THAT CAN GET GOING IN THE
SOUTHEAST CORNER.  TEMPERATURES HAVE WARMED INTO THE 80S AHEAD OF
THE FRONT ONLY IN POWDER RIVER...SHERIDAN...AND CARTER.  THUS THEY HAVE
THE BEST SHOT OF SEEING SIGNIFICANT STORMS. SPC ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH
FOR POWDER RIVER AND CARTER COUNTIES FOR THIS EVENING.

DRIER WEATHER IN STORE FOR WED IN THE WAKE OF THE SHORT WAVE.
TEMPERATURES WILL REBOUND SOME BEHIND THIS WAVE TO NEAR NORMAL VALUES.
THE AIRMASS LOOKS TOO DRY/STABLE FOR TSTORMS.  MOORE

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR FRI...SAT...SUN...MON...TUE...

ONLY CHANGE TO EXTENDED FORECAST WAS TO RAISE TEMPERATURES A COUPLE OF
DEGREES ON SATURDAY AS HIGH AMPLITUDE UPPER RIDGE AND ACCOMPANYING
THERMAL RIDGE BUILD INTO THE FORECAST AREA. GFS WAS CONSISTENT WITH
YESTERDAY/S RUN AND SHOWED STRONG UPPER RIDGE WITH HIGH PRESSURE OVER
FOUR CORNERS REGION AND A WARM AIRMASS PERSISTING OVER THE
FORECAST AREA INTO SUNDAY. A SHORTWAVE WAS PROGGED TO MOVE E ALONG
THE CANADIAN BORDER ON MONDAY FLATTENING THE RIDGE. THIS FEATURE WILL
BRING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA. THE RIDGE WILL REBUILD
OVER THE REGION ON TUESDAY. NORMAL TO ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES
WILL OCCUR THROUGH THE PERIOD. ARTHUR

    WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 055/084 055/084 057/088 059/090 059/090 057/086 052/084
    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/G    00/G    03/T    30/B
LVM 049/086 048/086 051/086 053/089 051/089 050/085 045/084
    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    03/T    30/B
HDN 054/085 055/085 056/089 059/091 059/090 057/088 052/085
    30/U    00/U    00/U    00/G    00/G    03/T    30/B
MLS 055/083 055/085 054/088 058/090 059/089 057/087 052/083
    40/U    00/U    00/U    00/G    00/U    03/T    30/B
4BQ 056/086 054/088 054/088 057/090 057/090 057/088 052/084
    40/U    00/U    00/U    00/G    00/G    03/T    30/B
BHK 055/081 054/084 052/086 057/088 059/088 056/086 051/082
    60/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    03/T    30/B
SHR 052/084 052/084 053/088 056/090 056/090 053/088 048/084
    40/U    00/U    00/U    00/G    00/G    03/T    30/B

.BYZ...
MT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM (WCN) WATCH UNTIL 600 PM MDT TUESDAY FOR
ZONES MTC003...MTC065...MTC087...MTC103.

TORNADO (WCN) WATCH UNTIL 900 PM MDT TUESDAY FOR ZONES MTC011...
MTC075.

WY...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 8, 4:24 PM MDT, 38 minutes before
MTZ028>042-056>058-WYZ098-099-091100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
424 PM MDT TUE JUL 8 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHEAST
MONTANA AND NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES FOR ROSEBUD COUNTY UNTIL 600
PM MDT. WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 65 MPH AND HAIL THE SIZE OF QUARTERS
WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ALSO ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR
SOUTHEASTERN MONTANA UNTIL 900 PM MDT. THIS WATCH INCLUDES CARTER
AND POWDER RIVER COUNTIES. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND A FEW
TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THESE AREAS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

JZ

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 8, 12:43 PM MDT, 4 hours 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS, MT
1243 PM MDT TUE JUL 8 2003

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1000 PM    30 SE ASHLAND             MT   1.75 INCH HAIL
07/07/03   POWDER RIVER
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 2:17 PM MDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before
MTZ028-034-035-039-041-042-056-082115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
217 PM MDT TUE JUL 8 2003

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM MDT FOR
GOLDEN VALLEY...WHEATLAND...YELLOWSTONE...SWEET GRASS...STILLWATER
AND CARBON COUNTIES HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE AREA. THEREFORE...THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

ARTHUR
Local storm report, Jul 8, 3:22 PM MDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS, MT
322 PM MDT TUE JUL 8 2003

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0255 PM    CROW AGENCY               MT   .75 INCH HAIL
07/08/03   BIG HORN

KMR
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 4:22 PM MDT, 40 minutes before
MTZ029-030-038-057-082315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
422 PM MDT TUE JUL 8 2003

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM MDT FOR
MUSSELSHELL...TREASURE AND BIG HORN COUNTIES HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE AREA. THEREFORE...THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

ARTHUR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 7, 8:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZPowder River65 min
Jul 7, 9:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCarter58 min
Jul 7, 9:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZPowder River55 min
Jul 7, 11:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCarbon27 min
Jul 8, 2:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZBig Horn56 min
Jul 8, 3:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZPowder River55 min
Jul 8, 4:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZPowder River53 min
Jul 8, 5:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCarter62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

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.