Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2008

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 31, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 17, 2008Fergus County, Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 17, 2008, 10:05 PM MDT for Fergus County, Montana. It was in force for 44 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
Jun 17, 2008, 10:05 PM MDT (04:05 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 2008, 10:49 PM MDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Great Falls, MT
Area
Storm-based polygon

County Fergus County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 164 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:04 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
Jun 17, 5:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC9 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 00:00Z on 2008-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 20 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, Great_falls, MT at 00:00Z on 2008-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 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
20 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3633 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 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 Great Falls, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 17, 9:00 PM MDT, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 9:00 PM MDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 17, 10:36 AM MDT, 11 hours 29 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1036 AM MDT TUE JUN 17 2008

MTZ008>015-044>055-181230-
BEAVERHEAD-NORTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-EASTERN GLACIER-HILL-
CASCADE-CHOUTEAU-CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LEWIS AND CLARK-MADISON-
TOOLE-LIBERTY-EASTERN PONDERA-BLAINE-
SOUTHERN ROCKY MOUNTAIN FRONT-EASTERN TETON-JUDITH BASIN-FERGUS-
JEFFERSON-BROADWATER-MEAGHER-GALLATIN-
1036 AM MDT TUE JUN 17 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
MONTANA...NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF
SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL...AND NORTH CENTRAL MONTANA THROUGH TONIGHT.

LOCATION...
THE SLIGHT RISK AREA IS GENERALLY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CHINOOK...TO
LOMA...TO LINCOLN...AND INCLUDES GREAT FALLS...LEWISTOWN...
HELENA...AND BOZEMAN.

TIMING...
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP BETWEEN 1 AND 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON
OVER SOUTHWEST MONTANA...AND WILL INTENSIFY AS THEY MOVE
NORTHEASTWARD OVER SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL MONTANA LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THREAT WILL
SPREAD ACROSS CENTRAL MONTANA AFTER 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON...AND
WILL LIKELY END ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA BY 11 PM THIS EVENING.

IMPACTS...
DAMAGING WIND GUSTS OVER 70 MPH AND HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS
WILL BE THE PRIMARY CONCERNS WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS. INTENSE
LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL ALSO BE CONCERNS. AN
ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE COMPLETELY RULED OUT IN CENTRAL MONTANA
EARLY THIS EVENING.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS...
STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ACROSS THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS WARNING AREA SHOULD MONITOR
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGH TONIGHT.

OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
A SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA. VERY HEAVY RAIN WITH STORMS MAY
CAUSE FLOODING OF LOW-LYING AND POORLY DRAINED AREAS TODAY AND
TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY AFTERNOONS ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MONTANA.

THE SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON.

WITH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES EXPECTED FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
WEEK...INCREASED SNOWMELT IS EXPECTED OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS. AS A
RESULT...RIVER...CREEK...AND STREAM LEVELS WILL REMAIN HIGH
THROUGHOUT THE WEEK. THE MAIN AREAS OF CONCERN WILL BE NEAR THE
MOUNTAINS. THIS SITUATION WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED FOR
ADDITIONAL FLOOD HIGHLIGHTS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

COHEN

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 17, 7:33 PM MDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jun 17, 7:46 PM MDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jun 17, 8:01 PM MDT, 2 hours 4 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jun 17, 8:38 PM MDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jun 17, 9:05 PM MDT, 1 hour before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 6:06 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXFergus24 min
Jun 17, 6:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Hill, Liberty46 min
Jun 17, 6:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXFergus16 min
Jun 18, 11:47 AM MDTRiver Flood WarningTFXGallatin12 days

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Montana, 2008Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2008

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.