Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2004

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 61, NWS Billings, MT

July 27, 2004Wheatland County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 27, 2004, 8:27 PM MDT for Wheatland County, Montana. It was in force for 33 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 27, 2004, 8:27 PM MDT (02:27 UTC)
Expired
Jul 27, 2004, 9:00 PM MDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Wheatland County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:27 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 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 27, 2:24 PM MDT, 6 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 2:24 PM MDT, 6 hours 3 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
224 PM MDT TUE JUL 27 2004

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR WED AND THU...

COOL SUMMER DAY BEHIND THE FRONT THAT MOVED THROUGH THIS MORNING
WITH ISOLATED CONVECTION POPPING OVER SHERIDAN COUNTY. STRONG
UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER EASTERN SASKATCHEWAN WITH A SHORTWAVE MOVING
INTO NORTHWEST MONTANA PROGGED TO ROTATE IN NORTHWEST FLOW ACROSS
SOUTHERN MONTANA AND INTO WYOMING OVERNIGHT. DESPITE THE COOL
SURFACE TEMPERATURES...AIRMASS STAYS UNSTABLE OVERNIGHT AND WITH
UPSLOPE EXPECTED TO INCREASE AS ANOTHER SURGE OF COOLER AIR MOVES
INTO MONTANA INGREDIENTS ARE PRESENT FOR A DECENT CHANCE OF
PRECIPITATION. EXPECT THE TRADITIONAL UPSLOPE AREAS OF THE
BEARTOOTHS/ABSAROKAS...PRYORS AND BIG HORNS TO SEE THE BEST CHANCE
AND HAVE UPPED POPS TO LIKELYS FOR TONIGHT FOR THOSE AREAS. COOL
AND CLOUDY DAY FOR WEDNESDAY WITH PRECIP DECREASING BUT
TEMPERATURES WILL BE AT LEAST 15 DEGREES BELOW NORMAL. UPPER LEVEL
LOW MOVES JUST A LITTLE SOUTH AND EAST DURING THE NEXT 48 HOURS
AND THIS KEEPS THE COOL NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE AREA INTO
THURSDAY. LIFT AND INSTABILITY IS WEAKENING WITH TIME SO SHOWER
ACTIVITY WILL BE LESSENED BUT WILL STILL SEE A FEW AROUND.
THURSDAY SHOULD SEE A BIT MORE SUN WITH TEMPERATURES SLOW TO
REBOUND. BORSUM

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

NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT BEGINS TO TRANSITION INTO A MORE WESTERLY FLOW ON
FRIDAY AS DRY UPPER RIDGING BUILDS IN OVER THE WEEKEND. THIS WILL
RESULT IN MUCH WARMER TEMPERATURES SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AND HAVE BUMPED
HIGHS UP A COUPLE OF DEGREES FOR THOSE DAYS. HOW LONG THE RIDGE WILL
HOLD OUT CONTINUES TO BE A QUESTION IN THE FORECAST AS THE MODELS ARE
STRUGGLING WITH THE TRACK OF AN UPPER TROUGH MOVING INTO THE WESTERN
UNITED STATES EARLY IN THE WEEK. LATEST GFS SLOWER THAN PREVIOUS
RUNS...WHICH IS A TREND OFTEN SEEN IN THE GFS WHEN RIDGING SETS UP
OVER THE AREA. DESPITE THE SLOWER SOLUTION...IT STILL APPEARS THAT
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL RETURN OVER THE AREA BY THE END OF THE
EXTENDED. THIS WOULD RESULT IN THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL DURING THE END
OF THE EXTENDED BUT WITH LOW CONFIDENCE IN THE TIMING OF THE TROUGH
MOVING EASTWARD WILL CONTINUE TO LEAVE DRY FORECAST FOR NOW. MACZKO

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 052/071 052/076 053/083 056/091 062/091 060/094 060/093
    52/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
LVM 047/071 045/076 049/081 054/089 052/091 056/089 056/090
    63/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
HDN 054/072 054/077 055/083 057/091 060/094 061/092 061/094
    42/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
MLS 054/072 053/077 053/083 055/090 062/092 066/095 066/092
    32/T    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
4BQ 054/072 055/077 052/081 056/088 060/092 064/094 064/091
    33/T    20/B    00/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
BHK 054/072 049/074 047/079 053/087 060/090 064/092 064/091
    33/T    20/B    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U
SHR 056/068 052/076 049/080 052/092 056/092 060/095 060/092
    64/T    22/T    20/U    00/U    00/U    00/U    00/U

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

&&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 27, 8:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZWheatland34 min
Jul 27, 9:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZStillwater, Yellowstone43 min
Jul 27, 9:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZBig Horn60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2004Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2004

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.