Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Great Falls, MT

April 22, 2003Judith Basin County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 2003, 5:40 PM MDT for Judith Basin County, Montana. It was in force for 35 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
Apr 22, 2003, 5:40 PM MDT (23:40 UTC)
Expired
Apr 22, 2003, 6:15 PM MDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Judith Basin County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:40 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 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 49 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, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2003-04-22Temperature 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, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2003-04-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -28 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2677 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-4 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.

665 
WFUS55 KTFX 222340
TORTFX
MTC045-230015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
540 PM MDT TUE APR 22 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL JUDITH BASIN COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF STANFORD

* UNTIL 615 PM MDT

* AT 535 PM MDT...JUDITH BASIN SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED A FUNNEL
  CLOUD 1 MILE EAST OF STANFORD...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  OVER STANFORD AT 600 PM MDT

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4699 11011 4722 10994 4734 11022 4715 11044

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes 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.