Alert archive / Montana / Mesoscale Discussions in 2021

Mesoscale Discussion 1159

July 5, 2021Liberty County, Toole County, Montana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 5, 2021, 10:49 PM MDT for Liberty County, Toole County, Montana. It was in force for 116 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 5, 2021, 10:49 PM MDT (04:49 UTC)
Expired
Jul 6, 2021, 12:45 AM MDT
In force
116 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch unlikely
Chance of a watch
5%

Counties Liberty County, MT, Toole County, MT

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:50 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 00:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 112 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 00:00Z on 2021-07-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 435 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 00:00Z on 2021-07-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 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
435 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1792 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

134 
ACUS11 KWNS 060449
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 060449 
MTZ000-060645-

Mesoscale Discussion 1159
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1149 PM CDT Mon Jul 05 2021

Areas affected...Parts of north central Montana

Concerning...Severe potential...Watch unlikely 

Valid 060449Z - 060645Z

Probability of Watch Issuance...5 percent

SUMMARY...A small cluster of strong storms may persist into the 2-4
AM MDT time frame, progressing east-southeastward across parts of
north central Montana.  This may include continuing risk to produce
some hail and locally strong surface gusts, but potential for
substantive intensification appears low.

DISCUSSION...A small, but organized cluster of storms, with an
embedded MCV, has crossed the international border to the north of
Cutbank.  This activity appears supported by forcing for ascent
associated with warm advection along a baroclinic zone around 700
mb, ahead of a low amplitude wave within the westerlies.  Latest
Rapid Refresh suggests that this could persist east-southeastward
across parts of north central Montana, north through northeast of
Great Falls, into the 08-10Z time frame, before weakening. 

The deep-layer westerly mean wind vector across this region is
rather weak (10-20 kt), but shear is strong due to profiles
characterized by veering of low-level easterlies to modest
westerlies at mid-levels.  So, despite inflow of only weakly
unstable air (up to 500+ J/kg), and the tendency for this inflow to
become even less unstable as activity progresses eastward, a risk
for hail and strong wind gusts may linger until storms dimimish.

..Kerr/Hart.. 07/06/2021

...Please see www.spc.noaa.gov for graphic product...

ATTN...WFO...TFX...

LAT...LON   48921144 48110923 47830992 48311132 48581230 48921144

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 6, 2:37 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBig Horn, Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Musselshell, Petroleum and 6 more83 min
Jul 6, 5:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBig Horn, Custer, Musselshell, Powder River, Rosebud, Treasure and 1 more6 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Montana, 2021Every mesoscale discussion in 2021

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.