Alert archive / Montana / Red Flag Warnings in 2012

Red Flag Warning 7, NWS Great Falls, MT

June 24, 20125 counties in Montana

NWS Great Falls, MT issued this red flag warning at Jun 24, 2012, 4:29 PM MDT for 5 counties in Montana. It was in force for 8 hr. 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 24, 2012, 4:29 PM MDT (22:29 UTC)
Expired: Jun 25, 2012, 12:00 AM MDT
In force: 8 hr
Issued by: NWS Great Falls, MT

Counties Broadwater County, MT, Gallatin County, MT, Jefferson County, MT, Lewis and Clark County, MT, Meagher County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:29 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 nearest sounding before it

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 145 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 304 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -450 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 726 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 219 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

391 
WWUS85 KTFX 242229
RFWTFX

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
429 PM MDT SUN JUN 24 2012

MTZ118-250600-
/O.NEW.KTFX.FW.W.0007.120624T2229Z-120625T0600Z/
HELENA AND TOWNSEND RANGER DISTRICTS OF THE HELENA NATIONAL
FOREST-
429 PM MDT SUN JUN 24 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT FOR
GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE 118...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN
EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT. 

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 118.

* WINDS...SOUTHWEST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 5 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE
  HUMIDITIES WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS
  AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH RAPID FIRE GROWTH IN AREAS WHERE
  FUELS ARE DRY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS OR FIRE CREWS IN THESE
AREAS OF THIS RED FLAG WARNING.

&&

$$

HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS

2 follow-up statements

440 
WWUS85 KTFX 250235
RFWTFX

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
835 PM MDT SUN JUN 24 2012

MTZ118-251200-
/O.NEW.KTFX.FW.W.0008.120625T1800Z-120626T0300Z/
/O.CON.KTFX.FW.W.0007.000000T0000Z-120625T0600Z/
HELENA AND TOWNSEND RANGER DISTRICTS OF THE HELENA NATIONAL
FOREST-
835 PM MDT SUN JUN 24 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT
FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE
118...
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 9 PM MDT MONDAY FOR
GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE 118...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREAT FALLS HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN
EFFECT FROM NOON TO 9 PM MDT MONDAY. A RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS
IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT. 

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 118.

* WINDS...SOUTHWEST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 10 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE
  HUMIDITIES WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
  THROUGH MONDAY EVENING WITH RAPID FIRE GROWTH IN AREAS WHERE
  FUELS ARE DRY. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS
  ACROSS HIGHER ELEVATIONS MONDAY AFTERNOON.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS OR FIRE CREWS IN THESE
AREAS OF THIS RED FLAG WARNING.

&&

$$

HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS

827 
WWUS85 KTFX 250554
RFWTFX

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREAT FALLS MT
1154 PM MDT SUN JUN 24 2012

MTZ118-251800-
/O.EXP.KTFX.FW.W.0007.000000T0000Z-120625T0600Z/
/O.CON.KTFX.FW.W.0008.120625T1800Z-120626T0300Z/
HELENA AND TOWNSEND RANGER DISTRICTS OF THE HELENA NATIONAL
FOREST-
1154 PM MDT SUN JUN 24 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 9 PM MDT
MONDAY FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER
ZONE 118... ...RED FLAG WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT MIDNIGHT MDT
TONIGHT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE
118...

THE RED FLAG WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT MIDNIGHT MDT TONIGHT. A RED
FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TO 9 PM MDT MONDAY. 

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 118.

* WINDS...SOUTHWEST 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 13 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE
  HUMIDITIES WILL RESULT IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
  THROUGH MONDAY EVENING WITH RAPID FIRE GROWTH IN AREAS WHERE
  FUELS ARE DRY. THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS
  ACROSS HIGHER ELEVATIONS MONDAY AFTERNOON.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE OFFICIALS OR FIRE CREWS IN THESE
AREAS OF THIS RED FLAG WARNING.

&&

$$

HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/GREATFALLS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 23, 6:25 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Glacier	40 min
Jun 23, 6:48 PM MDT	Special Weather Statement	TFX	Pondera	42 min
Jun 23, 6:58 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Lewis and Clark, Teton	47 min
Jun 23, 7:35 PM MDT	Special Weather Statement	TFX	Pondera, Toole	55 min
Jun 23, 7:42 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Pondera, Teton	48 min
Jun 23, 8:29 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Chouteau, Liberty, Pondera, Teton, Toole	46 min
Jun 23, 8:32 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	TFX	Pondera, Teton	28 min
Jun 23, 8:58 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Lewis and Clark, Teton	47 min
Jun 23, 9:14 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Chouteau, Liberty, Pondera, Teton, Toole	46 min
Jun 23, 9:31 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Teton	44 min
Jun 23, 9:43 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Lewis and Clark, Teton	33 min
Jun 23, 9:54 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Hill, Liberty, Pondera, Toole	51 min
Jun 23, 10:10 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Pondera, Teton, Toole	50 min
Jun 23, 10:45 PM MDT	Special Weather Statement	TFX	Hill	45 min
Jun 23, 10:59 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TFX	Pondera, Toole	17 min

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Montana, 2012 Every red flag warning 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.