Alert archive / Montana / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 730

August 5, 20117 counties in Montana; 4 counties in Wyoming

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 5, 2011, 2:55 PM MDT for 7 counties in Montana; 4 counties in Wyoming. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 5, 2011, 2:55 PM MDT (20:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 2011, 8:00 PM MDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Big Horn County, MT, Carter County, MT, Custer County, MT, Fallon County, MT, Powder River County, MT, Rosebud County, MT, Treasure County, MT, Campbell County, WY, Crook County, WY, Sheridan County, WY, Weston County, WY

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 192 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:57 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 4:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZBig Horn, Yellowstone62 min
Aug 5, 5:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNRCampbell, Crook58 min
Aug 5, 6:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNRCrook64 min
Aug 5, 6:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZCarter63 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

Glasgow Intl Airport, MT (KGGW), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 293 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 12:00Z on 2011-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 37 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, Glasgow Intl Airport, MT at 12:00Z on 2011-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 204 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
37 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-368 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1487 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
240 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 12:05 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBig Horn, Carter, Custer, Fallon, Powder River, Prairie and 2 more2 hr
Aug 5, 4:25 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBig Horn, Carter, Custer, Fallon, Powder River, Prairie and 2 more2 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Montana, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Wyoming, 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.