Alert archive / Montana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2016

Mesoscale Discussion 845

June 8, 201615 counties in Montana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jun 8, 2016, 2:39 PM MDT for 15 counties in Montana. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 8, 2016, 2:39 PM MDT (20:39 UTC)
Expired
Jun 8, 2016, 5:15 PM MDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Chance of a watch
20%

Counties Broadwater County, MT, Cascade County, MT, Deer Lodge County, MT, Fergus County, MT, Gallatin County, MT, Golden Valley County, MT, Jefferson County, MT, Judith Basin County, MT, Lewis and Clark County, MT, Madison County, MT, Meagher County, MT, Powell County, MT, Silver Bow County, MT, Sweet Grass County, MT, Wheatland County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:41 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 115 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 12:00Z on 2016-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 12 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, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2016-06-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 121 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
12 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-234 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2488 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

479 
ACUS11 KWNS 082040
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 082039 
MTZ000-082315-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0845
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0339 PM CDT WED JUN 08 2016

AREAS AFFECTED...PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MONTANA

CONCERNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL...WATCH UNLIKELY 

VALID 082039Z - 082315Z

PROBABILITY OF WATCH ISSUANCE...20 PERCENT

SUMMARY...THERE WILL BE AN INCREASE IN THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF CNTRL/SRN MT DURING THE NEXT
FEW HOURS...WITH THIS ACTIVITY CONTINUING THROUGH EARLY EVENING.
WHILE CONVECTIVE TRENDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED...WW ISSUANCE
IS PRESENTLY UNLIKELY.

DISCUSSION...TOWERING CUMULUS AND ISOLATED TSTM DEVELOPMENT ARE
ONGOING ACROSS PARTS OF THE BITTERROOT RANGE WITH ADDITIONAL CUMULUS
DEVELOPMENT INTO/ACROSS THE SWRN MT MOUNTAINS. DIURNALLY ENHANCED
OROGRAPHIC CIRCULATIONS IN THE STEEP-LAPSE-RATE ENVIRONMENT WILL BE
THE PRIMARY MEANS FOR TSTM DEVELOPMENT DURING THE NEXT FEW
HOURS...WHILE STRONGER DEEP ASCENT RESIDES WELL TO THE W/NW OF THE
DISCUSSION AREA. FURTHERMORE...WITH STRONGER DEEP SHEAR RESIDING TO
THE W/NW OF THE DISCUSSION AREA...CONVECTION SPREADING GENERALLY
ENEWD/EWD ACROSS THE PLAINS OF CNTRL/SRN MT FOLLOWING INITIAL
DEVELOPMENT OVER THE MOUNTAINS MAY LACK OVERALL ORGANIZATION.

NEVERTHELESS...A FEW LOOSELY ORGANIZED MULTICELL CLUSTERS MAY EVOLVE
GIVEN LARGE TEMPERATURE-DEWPOINT SPREADS -- E.G. AROUND 30-40F --
REFLECTING THE DEEPLY MIXED BOUNDARY LAYER THAT SHOULD FOSTER AMPLE
SUB-CLOUD EVAPORATION AND STRONG COLD POOLS. WITH DCAPE ALREADY
REACHING 1000-1250 J/KG...ISOLATED SVR WIND GUSTS MAY OCCUR...AND
ISOLATED SVR HAIL CANNOT BE RULED OUT WITH THE MOST INTENSE CORES.
HOWEVER...THE LACK OF STRONGER DEEP SHEAR...THE OVERALL DEARTH OF
MOISTURE...AND THE PAUCITY OF LARGE-SCALE ASCENT...WILL TEND TO
MARGINALIZE THE SVR POTENTIAL/COVERAGE.

..COHEN/DIAL.. 06/08/2016

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...BYZ...GGW...TFX...MSO...

LAT...LON   46571343 47591213 47881036 47450886 46670840 45640983
            45091211 45421322 46571343

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 2:16 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFlathead, Glacier, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula and 4 more2 hr
Jun 8, 3:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCFlathead, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Sanders6 hr
Jun 8, 5:48 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFlathead, Glacier, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula and 3 more57 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Montana, 2016Every mesoscale discussion in 2016

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.