Alert archive / Montana / Flash Flood Watches in 2014

Flash Flood Watch 6, NWS Missoula, MT

August 15, 2014Flathead County, Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this flash flood watch at Aug 15, 2014, 10:16 AM MDT for Flathead County, Montana. It took effect at Aug 15, 2014, 12:00 PM MDT. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 15, 2014, 10:16 AM MDT (16:16 UTC)
In effect from
Aug 15, 2014, 12:00 PM MDT
Expired
Aug 15, 2014, 9:00 PM MDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Flood severity
None

County Flathead County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:18 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

Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 187 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, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 2014-08-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 675 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, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 2014-08-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 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
675 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
685 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 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 watch 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 flash flood watch went out at Aug 15, 4:20 AM MDT, 5 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 4:20 AM MDT, 5 hours 56 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 15, 8:32 AM MDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
832 AM MDT FRI AUG 15 2014

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

0600 PM     HAIL             5 E GREER               46.39N 116.07W
08/14/2014  E1.25 INCH       CLEARWATER         ID   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            HAIL WAS MOSTLY 1" BUT A FEW WERE UP TO
            HALF-DOLLAR SIZE. IT ACCUMULATED UP TO 12"
            IN PLACES AND DECIMATED A BARLEY CROP. ALSO
            HOLES WERE OBSERVED IN FIBERGLASS BUILDING.
            HAIL DURATION 20 MINUTES.

&&

NWS MISSOULA MT
IRIS SYSTEM
Local storm report, Aug 15, 8:34 AM MDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
834 AM MDT FRI AUG 15 2014

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

0600 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 E GREER               46.39N 116.06W
08/14/2014                   CLEARWATER         ID   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            CLEARWATER COUNTY DEPUTY REPORTED A POSSIBLE
            "MICROBURST" AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.
            A YELLOW PINE TREE SMASHED A SHED. ANOTHER
            YELLOW PINE WAS UPROOTED AND SEVERAL OTHERS
            WERE TWISTED OFF ABOUT 20 TO 30 FEET UP.
            TIME IS IN PDT. TSTM WND DMG DURATION 20
            MINUTES.

&&

NWS MISSOULA MT
IRIS SYSTEM
Special weather statement, Aug 15, 8:58 AM MDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
858 AM MDT FRI AUG 15 2014

MTZ003-004-151545-
FLATHEAD/MISSION VALLEYS-LOWER CLARK FORK REGION-
858 AM MDT FRI AUG 15 2014

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SOUTHEASTERN SANDERS...WESTERN
MISSOULA AND EASTERN MINERAL COUNTIES UNTIL 945 AM MDT...

AT 854 AM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF TARKIO...OR 20 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF SUPERIOR...MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH.

HAIL UP TO ONE-HALF INCH IN DIAMETER IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM...
ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...TARKIO...ALBERTON...
CYR...QUARTZ...NINEMILE...HUSON AND STARK.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...GO INDOORS AND STAY
AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE TO A WELL
PROTECTED AREA.

&&

LAT...LON 4734 11471 4729 11422 4684 11440 4683 11481
TIME...MOT...LOC 1456Z 197DEG 20KT 4698 11461

KINO

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 14, 6:00 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMSOMineral2 hr
Aug 14, 6:10 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMSOMissoula3 hr
Aug 14, 6:20 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOMissoula40 min
Aug 14, 6:35 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOMissoula55 min
Aug 14, 6:46 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOSanders59 min
Aug 14, 8:29 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOSanders61 min
Aug 14, 9:15 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOSanders60 min
Aug 15, 8:58 AM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOMineral47 min
Aug 15, 11:55 AM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOPowell35 min
Aug 15, 12:00 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOSilver Bow45 min
Aug 15, 12:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSODeer Lodge, Powell25 min
Aug 15, 12:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSODeer Lodge, Powell, Silver Bow22 min
Aug 15, 12:32 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOSilver Bow28 min
Aug 15, 12:43 PM MDTAreal Flood AdvisoryMSOSilver Bow2 hr
Aug 15, 1:01 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOLincoln44 min
Aug 15, 1:05 PM MDTAreal Flood AdvisoryMSODeer Lodge, Powell, Silver Bow115 min
Aug 15, 4:45 PM MDTAreal Flood AdvisoryMSOMissoula60 min
Aug 15, 5:36 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOPowell54 min
Aug 15, 5:42 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOLincoln63 min
Aug 14, 6:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSOClearwater31 min
Aug 14, 6:44 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOClearwater31 min
Aug 14, 7:14 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOClearwater31 min
Aug 15, 10:58 AM MDTAreal Flood AdvisoryMSOLemhi2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in Montana, 2014Every flash flood watch in 2014

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.