Alert archive / Montana / Special Weather Statements in 2012

Special Weather Statement, NWS Missoula, MT

July 17, 2012Missoula County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this special weather statement at Jul 17, 2012, 9:32 PM MDT for Missoula County, Montana. It was in force for 43 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
Jul 17, 2012, 9:32 PM MDT (03:32 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 2012, 10:15 PM MDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT

County Missoula County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 2 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:34 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 text

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

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What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this special weather statement went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Missoula, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this special weather statement went out at Jul 17, 3:12 PM MDT, 6 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 17, 3:12 PM MDT, 6 hours 20 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
312 PM MDT Tue Jul 17 2012

...Flash Flood Watch For Flathead and Lincoln counties through
midnight...

...Middle 90s by Thursday...

.DISCUSSION...Atmospheric moisture levels to 200 percent of normal
continue across northwestern Montana. Combining exceptional moisture
with weak lift and very warm temperatures, you have ingredients for
thunderstorms to contain very heavy rainfall. With the radar
showing increasing coverage of heavy rain-producing thunderstorms,
a flash flood watch has been issued for the Flathead and Lincoln
counties through late this evening. The upper level cut-off low
will continue to meander along the southwestern Oregon coast tonight
into Wednesday, while warmer and drier air is expected to move
northward with time. The weather models are now in more agreement
with hot temperatures. Expect temperatures to be in the upper 80s
to lower 90s which will be 3 to 5 degrees above normal. There may be a
chance that some mid-level moisture and clouds may keep temperatures
cooler than forecast across north-central Idaho. With low level
moisture levels still above normal, a chance for isolated
thunderstorms remains in the forecast on Wednesday. Finally the
upper level system will be dislodged from its quasi-stationary
position and track over the Northern Rockies on Friday. The
impacts from this system will be a tightening of the wind gradient
from Lemhi county to southwest Montana. Combine this with very
warm temperatures and winds could be sustained 20 to 30 mph with
gusts to 40 mph in these areas. This also will drive down the
relative humidity levels into the teens. Also on Friday, thunderstorms
with exist across northwest Montana, some of which may be severe.

Extended range model runs have shifted from a high pressure
solution to a persistent southwest flow solution in the past day
for the Saturday through Tuesday period. Due to the wild shift in
pattern depicted, precipitation chances have been nudged closer to
climatology while temperatures have been maintained. Confidence in
extended forecast is fairly low considering all of the
aforementioned inconsistencies.

&&

.AVIATION...

Thunderstorms will exist across northwest Montana through 18/0600Z,
occasionally impacting KGPI terminal during this time. Heavy rain
is possible with these thunderstorms, limiting visibility and
lowering ceilings from time to time. Elsewhere across the Northern
Rockies, scattered thunderstorms will exist through 18/0600Z, however
there are lower chances that KMSO, KBTM, or KSMN will be impacted.
Terrain obscurations will be common through 18/0600Z as well.
Thereafter, ceilings will begin to dissipate. Thunderstorms will
develop once again after 18/2100Z, however they will be isolated
in nature.

&&

.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...None.
ID...None.
&&

Smith/Zumpfe/Noble/Johnson
Aviation...Smith

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 17, 5:19 PM MDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jul 17, 5:34 PM MDT, 3 hours 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
534 PM MDT TUE JUL 17 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0415 PM     DEBRIS FLOW      19 NNE WEST GLACIER     48.75N 113.82W
07/17/2012                   FLATHEAD           MT   PARK/FOREST SRVC

            GLACIER NATIONAL PARK OFFICALS CALLED TO REPORT MULTIPLE
            ROCK AND DEBRIS FLOWS ALONG THE GOING TO THE SUN ROAD UP
            TO LOGAN PASS.

&&

LBR
Special weather statement, Jul 17, 5:43 PM MDT, 3 hours 49 minutes before
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<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 7:38 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOGranite, Missoula, Powell37 min
Jul 17, 8:32 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOPowell43 min
Jul 17, 8:52 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOMissoula38 min
Jul 17, 6:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOIdaho50 min
Jul 17, 8:57 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOClearwater48 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in Montana, 2012Every special weather statement in 2012

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.