Alert archive / Montana / Tornado Watches in 2012

Tornado Watch 355

June 4, 201212 counties in Montana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 4, 2012, 6:02 PM MDT for 12 counties in Montana. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 4, 2012, 6:02 PM MDT (00:02 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 2012, 12:55 AM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
65 kt

Counties Blaine County, MT, Cascade County, MT, Chouteau County, MT, Fergus County, MT, Glacier County, MT, Hill County, MT, Judith Basin County, MT, Lewis and Clark County, MT, Liberty County, MT, Pondera County, MT, Teton County, MT, Toole County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:06 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
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
50%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 6:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Lewis and Clark, Teton62 min
Jun 4, 6:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXCascade, Chouteau, Pondera, Teton61 min
Jun 4, 7:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Hill, Liberty67 min
Jun 4, 8:06 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXChouteau39 min
Jun 4, 8:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Hill, Liberty72 min
Jun 4, 9:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXChouteau, Liberty, Pondera, Teton, Toole61 min
Jun 4, 10:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGlacier, Pondera, Teton, Toole38 min
Jun 4, 10:15 PM MDTTornado WarningTFXToole45 min
Jun 4, 10:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGlacier, Pondera, Teton49 min
Jun 4, 10:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGlacier, Liberty, Pondera, Teton, Toole61 min
Jun 4, 11:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFXGlacier, Liberty, Toole73 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 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 87 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 2012-06-05Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Great_falls, MT at 00:00Z on 2012-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 182 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
2217 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
182 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
469 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
Jun 4, 7:42 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGranite, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli and 1 more93 min
Jun 4, 8:22 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlaine, Chouteau, Fergus, Hill, Petroleum, Phillips and 1 more83 min
Jun 4, 10:08 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLake, Lincoln, Mineral, Sanders67 min
Jun 4, 10:48 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLiberty, Pondera, Teton, Toole57 min
Jun 5, 12:54 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroadwater, Carbon, Gallatin, Golden Valley, Madison, Meagher and 6 more2 hr
Jun 5, 1:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBroadwater, Carbon, Gallatin, Golden Valley, Jefferson, Madison and 5 more7 hr
Jun 5, 1:56 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBlaine, Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Glacier, Hill and 8 more2 hr
Jun 5, 2:37 PM MDTTornado WatchSPCBlaine, Cascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Glacier, Hill and 6 more8 hr
Jun 5, 4:21 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroadwater, Golden Valley, Meagher, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Wheatland84 min
Jun 5, 4:48 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCascade, Chouteau, Fergus, Glacier, Golden Valley, Judith Basin and 6 more87 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Montana, 2012Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.