Alert archive / Montana / Flash Flood Warnings in 2013

Flash Flood Warning 29, NWS Billings, MT

July 4, 2013Carbon County, Montana

NWS Billings, MT issued this flash flood warning at Jul 4, 2013, 5:01 PM MDT for Carbon County, Montana. It was in force for 59 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 4, 2013, 5:01 PM MDT (23:01 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 2013, 6:00 PM MDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Billings, MT
Area
Storm-based polygon
Flood severity
None

County Carbon County, MT

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:04 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

Riverton, WY (KRIW), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 245 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, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 2013-07-04Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 2013-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2638 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Billings, MT wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 4, 3:15 PM MDT, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 3:15 PM MDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
315 PM MDT THU JUL 4 2013

.SHORT TERM...VALID FOR FRI AND SAT...

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED STORMS ARE EXPECTED THE NEXT FEW DAYS...WITH
FORECAST PROBLEMS CENTERED MAINLY ON THE TIMING OF WAVES IN QUASI-
ZONAL FLOW ALOFT. IT WILL REMAIN SEASONABLY WARM TOO...AND IN FACT
WE TENDED TOWARD THE WARM SIDE OF THE GUIDANCE SPREAD /WHILE STILL
RECOGNIZING THAT CONVECTIVE OUTFLOW COULD WREAK HAVOC WITH HIGHS/.

TONIGHT...LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE IS HOLDING ITS OWN OVER THE REGION AS
OF MID AFTERNOON...WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR 500 TO 1500 J/KG OF MLCAPE
TO PERSIST INTO THE EVENING. STORMS FORMING BOTH OVER THE ELEVATED
TERRAIN AND NEAR A MID-LEVEL FRONTAL ZONE ACROSS CENTRAL MT SHOULD
AFFECT THE AREA. THE STORMS NORTH OF ROUNDUP AT 21 UTC HAVE FORMED
NEAR THAT MID-LEVEL FRONT...AND THEY SHOULD PROPAGATE ACROSS SOUTH
CENTRAL MT HEADING INTO EVENING. ADDITIONAL DOWNSTREAM DEVELOPMENT
IS POSSIBLE AS WELL. THIS ACTIVITY MAY HAVE THE BEST SHOT AT BEING
SEVERE SINCE IT WILL BE IN CLOSER PROXIMITY TO MORE FAVORABLE MID-
LEVEL FLOW AND 0-6-KM BULK SHEAR OF 30 OR BETTER. RECENT HRRR RUNS
PICK UP ON THIS ACTIVITY AND TAKE IT EAST OF BILLINGS...BUT THE 00
UTC NSSL WRF-ARW /WHICH ALSO HAS A GOOD HANDLE ON THE STORMS AS OF
MID AFTERNOON/ SUGGESTS SOME STORMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BAROCLINIC
ZONE IN THE MID LEVELS MAY AFFECT THE CITY. CHANCE-STYLE POPS THUS
REMAIN IN PLAY OVER MUCH OF THE AREA...WITH SOME LIKELY POPS UNTIL
06 UTC OVER THE MOUNTAINS. CONVECTION COMING OFF THE MOUNTAINS MAY
POSE A HEAVY RAIN THREAT IN FAR SOUTH CENTRAL MT AND NORTH CENTRAL
WY TOO. FINALLY...WE LEFT SOME POPS IN PLAY AFTER 06 UTC TOO GIVEN
THE POSSIBILITY OF RESIDUAL CONVECTION CONTINUING OVERNIGHT.

FRI...WE WILL MAINTAIN AN EXPLICIT MENTION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
IN THE GRIDDED FORECAST DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IT STILL
LOOKS LIKE A MORE VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL IMPACT THE SOUTH
CENTRAL PART OF MT BY EVENING...AND THAT SHOULD SERVE YIELD A MORE
CONCENTRATED AREA OF STORMS IN AN ENVIRONMENT WITH MID-LEVEL LAPSE
RATES OF 7 TO 8 C/KM AND 0-6-KM BULK SHEAR OF 40 KT OR BETTER. OUR
LIKELY POPS THUS LOOK LIKE A GOOD CALL...THOUGH THE PRECISE TIMING
OF THAT WAVE IS A BIT UNCERTAIN AND MAY INFLUENCE THE COVERAGE AND
EVOLUTION OF CONVECTION. IN SOUTHEASTERN MT...SOME MODELS LIKE THE
12 UTC NAM SUGGEST EARLY-DAY CONVECTION WITH A WEAKER RIPPLE AHEAD
OF THE BETTER 500-HPA SHORT WAVE TROUGH...WHICH MAY COMPLICATE THE
FORECAST IN THAT PART OF THE AREA CONSIDERABLY IF THAT IS CORRECT.
MOREOVER...SOME 12 UTC GUIDANCE SUGGESTS DEEP-LAYER SHEAR MIGHT BE
MARGINAL FOR ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER IN FAR SOUTHEASTERN MT...AND
SO WE ARE NOT COMPLETELY CONFIDENT IN THE THREAT IN THAT AREA.

SAT...L0W-LEVEL EAST-NORTHEAST FLOW WILL MAINTAIN ELEVATED AMOUNTS
OF MOISTURE IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER...AND FLOW ALOFT WILL STRENGTHEN
FURTHER. ANOTHER CONDITIONAL RISK OF SEVERE STORMS THUS EXISTS. WE
ARE NOT CONFIDENT ENOUGH IN WAVE TIMING TO HAVE ANYTHING MORE THAN
CHANCE POPS IN THE FORECAST AT THIS TIME THOUGH. SCHULTZ

.LONG TERM...VALID FOR SUN...MON...TUE...WED...THU...

EXTENDED FORECAST LOOKS IN GOOD SHAPE AND DID NOT MAKE MANY
CHANGES. OVERALL PATTERN LOOKS UNSETTLED WITH ZONAL TO SLIGHTLY
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WITH TROUGHING SITTING OVER WASHINGTON
THROUGH MONDAY. LOWER PRESSURE TO THE WEST WILL KEEP SURFACE WINDS
OUT OF THE EAST. THIS WILL KEEP DEWPOINTS UP AND THUS CAPES AND
PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES HIGH. SEVERAL SHORTWAVES WILL SLIDE
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY FOR SCATTERED
CONVECTION. MID LEVEL WINDS SHOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO SUPPORT AT
LEAST THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER. PRECIPITABLE WATERS
AROUND AN INCH WILL TRANSLATE INTO VERY HEAVY RIAN IN STORMS.

THE NORTHWEST TROUGH IS PROGGED TO SLIDE EAST THROUGH MONTANA ON
TUESDAY. TIMING OF THE TROUGH WOULD CONCENTRATE THE BEST CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHEAST. THE TROUGH THEN SLIDES EAST
WEDNESDAY AND ALLOWS AN UPPER RIDGE TO BUILD IN FOR WEDNESDAY. THE
RIDGE AXIS WILL BE PRETTY FLAT AND THUS ENERGY AND MOISTURE WILL
HAVE NO PROBLEM RIDING OVER THE TOP FOR MORE CONVECTION WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. FLOW BACKS INTO THURSDAY AND THIS WILL KEEP
THE STRING OF CONVECTION GOING. HIGHS WILL BE SEASONAL TO SLIGHTLY
ABOVE SEASONAL. DID RAISE TEMPERATURES FOR SUNDAY AND MONDAY TO GO
ALONG WITH 700MB TEMPERATURES AROUND 12C. TWH

&&

.AVIATION...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THE STORMS WILL DRIFT SLOWLY EAST TO SOUTHEAST. THE
STRONGER STORMS WILL HAVE TORRENTIAL RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND WIND
GUSTS TO 40KTS. LOCAL IFR CONDITIONS SHOULD BE EXPECTED IN THE
STRONGER STORMS. STORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING WITH A
GRADUAL DECREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY OVERNIGHT. TWH

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS...

    FRI     SAT     SUN     MON     TUE     WED     THU
-----------------------------------------------------------
BIL 066/088 062/083 060/088 061/087 061/084 061/085 061/090
    45/T    64/T    44/T    44/T    43/T    32/T    22/T
LVM 057/086 053/085 051/084 051/085 051/082 051/085 049/090
    46/T    64/T    43/T    43/T    32/T    22/T    22/T
HDN 065/089 062/085 060/091 061/089 061/085 061/086 061/091
    45/T    64/T    44/T    44/T    43/T    32/T    22/T
MLS 067/089 065/085 062/091 062/088 062/084 063/086 060/090
    36/T    53/T    34/T    33/T    43/T    32/T    22/T
4BQ 061/089 059/085 059/089 059/089 060/084 059/084 058/089
    25/T    54/T    44/T    44/T    43/T    32/T    22/T
BHK 061/085 059/083 058/086 058/085 060/081 057/080 055/085
    26/T    63/T    24/T    44/T    43/T    32/T    22/T
SHR 060/086 059/082 056/087 055/087 056/083 055/083 054/089
    45/T    55/T    55/T    44/T    43/T    32/T    22/T

&&

.BYZ WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...NONE.
WY...NONE.

&&

WEATHER.GOV/BILLINGS
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 4, 3:17 PM MDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BILLINGS MT
317 PM MDT THU JUL 4 2013

MTZ028>042-056>058-063>068-WYZ098-099-052200-
SOUTHERN WHEATLAND-MUSSELSHELL-TREASURE-NORTHERN ROSEBUD-CUSTER-
FALLON-NORTHERN STILLWATER-YELLOWSTONE-POWDER RIVER-CARTER-
SOUTHERN BIG HORN-EASTERN CARBON-NORTHERN PARK-
NORTHERN SWEET GRASS-GOLDEN VALLEY-RED LODGE FOOTHILLS-
NORTHERN BIG HORN-SOUTHERN ROSEBUD-JUDITH GAP-PARADISE VALLEY-
LIVINGSTON AREA-BEARTOOTH FOOTHILLS-ABSAROKA/BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS-
CRAZY MOUNTAINS-NORTHEAST BIG HORN MOUNTAINS-SHERIDAN FOOTHILLS-
317 PM MDT THU JUL 4 2013

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
MONTANA...SOUTH CENTRAL MONTANA...SOUTHEAST MONTANA AND NORTH
CENTRAL WYOMING.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH FREQUENT...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS
ARE POSSIBLE.

ANYONE WITH OUTDOOR PLANS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THUNDERSTORMS...
AND HAVE A PLAN TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

A STRONG DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND
AND EVENING AND PRODUCE ANOTHER ROUND OF STRONG TO POSSIBLY SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS. THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...LARGE
HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THE THREAT FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE EACH
DAY FROM SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER
CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 4, 3:57 PM MDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<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.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, Jul 4, 4:30 PM MDT, 31 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<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.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, Jul 4, 4:33 PM MDT, 28 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<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.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, Jul 4, 4:47 PM MDT, 14 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<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.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, Jul 4, 4:53 PM MDT, 8 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<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.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, Jul 4, 5:01 PM MDT, 0 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<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.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 2:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZMusselshell32 min
Jul 4, 3:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZMusselshell31 min
Jul 4, 3:57 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementBYZCarbon48 min
Jul 4, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZMusselshell, Yellowstone45 min
Jul 4, 4:10 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZMusselshell3 hr
Jul 4, 4:30 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementBYZMusselshell45 min
Jul 4, 4:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBYZMusselshell, Treasure, Yellowstone31 min
Jul 4, 4:47 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementBYZCarbon43 min
Jul 4, 5:03 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementBYZYellowstone42 min
Jul 4, 5:34 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementBYZCarbon56 min
Jul 4, 5:56 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZCarbon3 hr
Jul 4, 12:08 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementBYZSheridan37 min
Jul 4, 1:09 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementBYZSheridan51 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Montana, 2013Every flash flood warning in 2013

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.