Alert archive / Montana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 2129

August 8, 200324 counties in Montana; 24 counties in North Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 8, 2003, 9:20 PM MDT for 24 counties in Montana; 24 counties in North Dakota. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 8, 2003, 9:20 PM MDT (03:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 2003, 10:15 PM MDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 48 counties

Cascade County, MT, Chouteau County, MT, Custer County, MT, Dawson County, MT, Fallon County, MT, Fergus County, MT, Garfield County, MT, Golden Valley County, MT, Judith Basin County, MT, Liberty County, MT, McCone County, MT, Musselshell County, MT, Petroleum County, MT, Phillips County, MT, Pondera County, MT, Prairie County, MT, Richland County, MT, Roosevelt County, MT, Rosebud County, MT, Sheridan County, MT, Teton County, MT, Toole County, MT, Treasure County, MT, Wibaux County, MT, Billings County, ND, Bottineau County, ND, Burke County, ND, Burleigh County, ND, Divide County, ND, Dunn County, ND, Golden Valley County, ND, Hettinger County, ND, Kidder County, ND, McHenry County, ND, McKenzie County, ND, McLean County, ND, Mercer County, ND, Morton County, ND, Mountrail County, ND, Oliver County, ND, Pierce County, ND, Renville County, ND, Rolette County, ND, Sheridan County, ND, Slope County, ND, Stark County, ND, Ward County, ND, Williams County, ND

The radar

The Glasgow radar (KGGW), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:24 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

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 00:00Z on 2003-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2301 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2003-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 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
2301 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2167 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
296 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
20.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

764 
ACUS11 KWNS 090321
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 090320 
NDZ000-MTZ000-090415-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2129
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1020 PM CDT FRI AUG 08 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...CNTRL/ERN MT AND WRN ND

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 851...852...

VALID 090320Z - 090415Z

WEATHER WATCHES 851 AND 852 EXPIRE AT 0400 UTC.  

THERE ARE A FEW CLUSTERS OF TSTMS MIGRATING ACROSS MT AND EXTREME
SWRN ND ATTM.  IT APPEARS TWO MIDLEVEL IMPULSES ARE IN PLAY...ONE
MIGRATING NWD ON ERN EDGE OF PACIFIC LOW AND THE OTHER MOVING NEWD
ALONG NRN PERIPHERY OF RIDGE AXIS IN NRN WY.  THUS...THE LARGE SCALE
ENVIRONMENT IS SUPPORTIVE OF TSTMS.  STRONGEST INSTABILITY AXIS
EXISTS FROM NORTH OF KBIL EWD INTO NWRN ND AND RECENT UPSWING IN
ACTIVITY APPROACHING KMLS AND KGDV MAY SIGNAL POTENTIAL WIND/HAIL
THREAT ACROSS EXTREME ERN MT INTO WRN ND OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.  

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITY THAT RECENTLY GAVE KGTF A 72 KT WIND GUST IS
MOVING INTO CHOUTEAU COUNTY.  IN THESE AREAS...EVENING SOUNDINGS
SUGGEST AN INVERTED-V THERMODYNAMIC STRUCTURE THAT WILL SUPPORT
SEVERE WIND GUSTS.

THREAT FOR ISOLD SEVERE STORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS/HAIL COULD
CONTINUE FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT...ESPECIALLY FROM ERN MT
INTO WRN ND.  IF TSTMS APPEAR TO INCREASE RAPIDLY IN COVERAGE...A
NEW WW MIGHT BE NEEDED.

..RACY.. 08/09/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...FGF...BIS...GGW...BYZ...TFX...

45890964 46980981 47221299 48671190 48340828 48330562
48810532 49099964 46619973

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 6:03 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDawson, Richland, Roosevelt, Sheridan, Wibaux87 min
Aug 8, 7:06 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFergus, Garfield, McCone, Petroleum114 min
Aug 9, 12:19 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRichland, Roosevelt, Sheridan116 min
Aug 9, 10:02 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarnes, Dickey, Emmons, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh and 2 more118 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Montana, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in North Dakota, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.