Alert archive / Montana / Red Flag Warnings in 2015
Red Flag Warning 9, NWS Missoula, MT
NWS Missoula, MT issued this red flag warning at Aug 13, 2015, 2:35 PM MDT for 11 counties in Montana; 5 counties in Idaho. It took effect at Aug 14, 2015, 12:00 PM MDT. It was in force for 17 hr. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 13, 2015, 2:35 PM MDT (20:35 UTC)
- In effect from
- Aug 14, 2015, 12:00 PM MDT
- Expired
- Aug 15, 2015, 4:30 AM MDT
- In force
- 17 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Missoula, MT
Counties Clearwater County, ID, Idaho County, ID, Latah County, ID, Lewis County, ID, Nez Perce County, ID, Flathead County, MT, Glacier County, MT, Granite County, MT, Lake County, MT, Lewis and Clark County, MT, Lincoln County, MT, Mineral County, MT, Missoula County, MT, Powell County, MT, Ravalli County, MT, Sanders County, MT
The radar
The Missoula radar (KMSX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:35 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 was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 14, 3:36 PM MDT | HAIL 0.75 | 4 S Lolo, MT | MOST WERE HALF INCH BUT MAYBE A FEW PENNY SIZE. |
| Aug 14, 3:39 PM MDT | HAIL 1 | 3 Nne Florence, MT | TWITTER REPORT OF UP TO GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL, TWEETED IMAGE CONFIRMS AT LEAST QUARTER SIZE HAIL. |
| Aug 14, 5:01 PM MDT | TSTM WND GST 53 | 2 Ene Bearmouth, MT | BEARMOUTH I-90 AT MILEPOST 145.8 MT DOT SENSOR. TEMP DROPPED FROM 100 TO 68 DEGREES. COULD HAVE OCCURRED IN 15 MINUTES BEFORE STATED TIME. |
| Aug 14, 5:30 PM MDT | TSTM WND GST 53 | 3 Ene Helena, MT |
Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.
The nearest sounding before it
Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 148 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -435 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3082 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -7 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
840 WWUS85 KMSO 132035 RFWMSO URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 235 PM MDT THU AUG 13 2015 IDZ102-103-150600- /O.UPG.KMSO.FW.A.0005.150814T1500Z-150815T0600Z/ /O.NEW.KMSO.FW.W.0009.150814T1800Z-150815T0600Z/ PALOUSE/HELLS CANYON-CLEARWATER/NEZ PERCE- 135 PM PDT THU AUG 13 2015 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM TO 11 PM PDT FRIDAY. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * WINDS: WIDESPREAD GUSTS BY THE LATE AFTERNOON UP TO 35 MPH, WITH HIGHER GUSTS POSSIBLE OVER RIDGES. THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE ERRATIC WINDS UP TO 45 MPH. * MINIMUM HUMIDITIES: HUMIDITIES DROPPING THE LOW TEENS IN THE AFTERNOON AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. * THUNDERSTORMS: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ANTICIPATED EARLY FRIDAY MORNING, FOLLOWED BY SCATTERED STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN CORES COULD PRODUCE MODERATE RAINFALL. LIGHTNING AND WINDS COULD CAUSE ISSUES FOR ONGOING FIRES. * TIMING: SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP BY MID-DAY, FOLLOWED BY THE STRONGEST WINDS AS THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON. $$ MTZ104>109-150600- /O.UPG.KMSO.FW.A.0005.150814T1800Z-150815T0600Z/ /O.NEW.KMSO.FW.W.0009.150814T1800Z-150815T0600Z/ KOOTENAI-FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK-WEST LOLO- SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION-EAST LOLO-BITTERROOT- 235 PM MDT THU AUG 13 2015 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON FRIDAY TO MIDNIGHT MDT FRIDAY NIGHT. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * WINDS: WIDESPREAD GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH LATE IN THE DAY, WITH HIGHER GUSTS POSSIBLE OVER RIDGES. THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE ERRATIC WINDS UP TO 50 MPH. * MINIMUM HUMIDITIES: HUMIDITIES WILL DROP INTO THE 20S IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT. * THUNDERSTORMS: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS WEST- CENTRAL MONTANA FRIDAY MORNING, FOLLOWED BY SCATTERED STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AFTERNOON. RAIN CORES COULD PRODUCE MODERATE RAINFALL. THE STRONGER STORMS MAY PRODUCE HAIL AND VERY STRONG WINDS. * TIMING: SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS, FOLLOWED BY THE STRONGEST WINDS AS THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE EVENING. $$
2 follow-up statements
655 WWUS85 KMSO 150542 RFWMSO URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 1142 PM MDT FRI AUG 14 2015 IDZ102-103-150645- /O.EXP.KMSO.FW.W.0009.000000T0000Z-150815T0600Z/ PALOUSE/HELLS CANYON-CLEARWATER/NEZ PERCE- 1042 PM PDT FRI AUG 14 2015 ...RED FLAG WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES ACROSS THE PALOUSE/HELLS CANYON... CLEARWATER/NEZ PERCE... THE RED FLAG WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 11 PM PDT THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE WITH IMPROVING HUMIDITY THROUGH THE NIGHT. $$ MTZ104>109-151200- /O.EXT.KMSO.FW.W.0009.000000T0000Z-150815T1200Z/ KOOTENAI-FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK-WEST LOLO- SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION-EAST LOLO-BITTERROOT- 1142 PM MDT FRI AUG 14 2015 ...RED FLAG WARNING NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MDT SATURDAY FOR GUSTY WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITIES ACROSS THE KOOTENAI... FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK...WEST LOLO...SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION...EAST LOLO...BITTERROOT... THE RED FLAG WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MDT SATURDAY. * THE COLD FRONT IS MOVING SLOWLY THROUGH WESTERN MONTANA THIS EVENING. A WIND SHIFT FROM SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS WILL OCCUR TONIGHT, WITH POTENTIAL GUSTS TO 40 MPH POSSIBLE WITH THE COLD FRONT PASSAGE, ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN. * MINIMUM HUMIDITIES: HUMIDITIES IN THE 20S IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT WILL SLOWLY IMPROVE BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. * THUNDERSTORMS: ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT. RAIN CORES COULD PRODUCE MODERATE RAINFALL. THE STRONGER STORMS MAY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS OVER 40 MPH. $$
314 WWUS85 KMSO 151030 RFWMSO URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT 430 AM MDT SAT AUG 15 2015 MTZ104>109-151130- /O.CAN.KMSO.FW.W.0009.000000T0000Z-150815T1200Z/ KOOTENAI-FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK-WEST LOLO- SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION-EAST LOLO-BITTERROOT- 430 AM MDT SAT AUG 15 2015 ...RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR THE KOOTENAI... FLATHEAD/GLACIER PARK...WEST LOLO...SALISH AND KOOTENAI RESERVATION...EAST LOLO...BITTERROOT... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MISSOULA HAS CANCELLED THE RED FLAG WARNING. RELATIVE HUMIDITIES ARE STARTING TO INCREASE. ALTHOUGH BREEZY WINDS WILL CONTINUE FOR RIDGE TOPS, WINDS WILL BE ON THE GRADUAL DECREASE THROUGHOUT THE DAY. $$
The office that day
Everything else NWS Missoula, MT issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 13, 4:31 AM MDT | Fire Weather Watch | MSO | Flathead, Glacier, Granite, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln and 5 more | 10 hr |
Nearby
Red Flag Warnings in Montana, 2015Red Flag Warnings in Idaho, 2015Every red flag warning in 2015
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.