Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 637

July 12, 2011Lemhi County, Idaho; 26 counties in Montana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jul 12, 2011, 1:38 PM MDT for Lemhi County, Idaho; 26 counties in Montana. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 2011, 1:38 PM MDT (19:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 2011, 9:00 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 27 counties

Lemhi County, ID, Beaverhead County, MT, Blaine County, MT, Broadwater County, MT, Cascade County, MT, Chouteau County, MT, Deer Lodge County, MT, Fergus County, MT, Gallatin County, MT, Granite County, MT, Hill County, MT, Jefferson County, MT, Judith Basin County, MT, Lewis and Clark County, MT, Liberty County, MT, Madison County, MT, Meagher County, MT, Missoula County, MT, Park County, MT, Pondera County, MT, Powell County, MT, Ravalli County, MT, Silver Bow County, MT, Sweet Grass County, MT, Teton County, MT, Toole County, MT, Wheatland County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:40 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 1:46 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMSOLemhi59 min
Jul 12, 2:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOPowell35 min
Jul 12, 2:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXBroadwater, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark58 min
Jul 12, 3:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXLewis and Clark44 min
Jul 12, 4:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOGranite, Missoula48 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 147 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 2011-07-12Temperature 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 2011-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 105 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1763 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 5:30 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Lemhi60 min
Jul 12, 12:56 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaverhead, Broadwater, Cascade, Deer Lodge, Flathead, Gallatin and 16 more64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Montana, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Idaho, 2011Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2011

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.