Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 5, 2004Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 2004, 8:58 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 32 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: Jun 5, 2004, 8:58 PM MDT (02:58 UTC)
Expired: Jun 5, 2004, 9:30 PM MDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 164 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 105 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: 537 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2966 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 119 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

656 
WFUS55 KTFX 060258
TORTFX
MTC027-060330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
858 PM MDT SAT JUN 5 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  FERGUS COUNTY IN CENTRAL MONTANA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF LEWISTOWN

* UNTIL 930 PM MDT

* AT 851 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOORE...OR ABOUT 14 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  LEWISTOWN...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.  THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF
  PRODUCING TORNADOES.
 

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  5 MILES SOUTH OF LEWISTOWN AT 915 PM MDT
  NEAR HEATH AT 930 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 1000 PM MDT
SATURDAY EVENING FOR WESTERN MONTANA.

LAT...LON 4728 10869 4675 10863 4672 10980 4720 10975
          4725 11011 4742 11013 4755 10984 4771 10983
          4781 10902 4761 10869 4761 10832 4731 10833

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 5, 6:25 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Liberty	50 min
Jun 5, 6:44 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Chouteau, Judith Basin	61 min
Jun 5, 7:13 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Hill, Liberty	47 min
Jun 5, 7:35 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Fergus	55 min
Jun 5, 7:43 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	TFX	Judith Basin	32 min
Jun 5, 8:11 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Blaine, Hill	49 min
Jun 5, 8:14 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	TFX	Judith Basin	31 min
Jun 5, 8:24 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	TFX	Fergus	36 min
Jun 5, 9:27 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	TFX	Fergus	33 min
Jun 6, 3:48 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Lewis and Clark, Teton	27 min
Jun 6, 4:09 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Chouteau, Hill	21 min
Jun 6, 4:17 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade	28 min
Jun 6, 4:54 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Cascade, Chouteau, Judith Basin	36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Montana, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.