Alert archive / Montana / Flood Watches in 2022

Flood Watch 2, NWS Missoula, MT

August 24, 202211 counties in Montana

NWS Missoula, MT issued this flood watch at Aug 24, 2022, 1:32 AM MDT for 11 counties in Montana. It took effect at Aug 24, 2022, 12:00 PM MDT. It was in force for 32 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 24, 2022, 1:32 AM MDT (07:32 UTC)
In effect from
Aug 24, 2022, 12:00 PM MDT
Expired
Aug 25, 2022, 8:11 PM MDT
In force
32 hr
Issued by
NWS Missoula, MT
Flood severity
None

Counties Deer Lodge County, MT, Flathead County, MT, Granite County, MT, Lake County, MT, Lincoln County, MT, Mineral County, MT, Missoula County, MT, Powell County, MT, Ravalli County, MT, Sanders County, MT, Silver Bow County, MT

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 2 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:32 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 forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this 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 flood watch went out at Aug 23, 2:45 PM MDT, 10 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 2:45 PM MDT, 10 hours 47 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Missoula MT
245 PM MDT Tue Aug 23 2022

.DISCUSSION...A slow moving cut-off low pressure system, currently
located along the northern Washington/British Columbia border,
will continue to migrate eastward into northwest Montana through
Thursday. An influx of moisture with this system will bring
thunderstorm chances each afternoon and evening through Thursday.

For the rest of this afternoon and evening, convection looks most
favored across northwest Montana. Storm motion is expected to
generally be less than 10 knots. This means that storms will
likely form over the terrain with very little movement into the
valleys. Under storm cores, very heavy rain will be possible.
There is an outside chance that a heavy rain core could form over
portions of Glacier National Park, including the Going-To-The-Sun
Highway.

For Wednesday into Thursday, moisture will further increase with
precipitable water values over 1" (150-200% of normal) across
much of western Montana and the Idaho panhandle. These values
will again support very heavy rainfall under thunderstorm cores.
With slightly more dynamics as the upper low approaches the region
along with increased instability, convection is expected to be
more widespread, especially across western Montana. Thunderstorms
will again be capable of very heavy rain under their cores (0.75"
per hour or more) and with the potential for convection to be
more widespread, the threat for localized flash flooding is a
real possibility (around 5% chance), especially if a storm forms
over a recent burn scar or flood prone urban area. Gusty outflow
winds up to 50 mph will also be possible ahead of these storms as
they develop and move through the region.

By Friday, the upper level low should have meandered into north
central Montana. Atmospheric moisture levels will be on the
decrease so the threat of heavy rain will be decreasing, however
thunderstorms will remain a possibility.

A trough of low pressure is expected to move through the region
this weekend. As this trough approaches, a break down of the upper
level ridge is expected on Saturday. Forecast models still vary a
bit on how dramatic this ridge break down will be, but under
typical patterns such as this, breezy to windy conditions can be
expected.

Cooler conditions, closer to seasonal normals are expected Sunday
into Monday. Much drier air will also filter in with the trough,
bringing an end to thunderstorm chances for at least a couple
days.

Forecast models continue to show high pressure building over
the region for next week. Hot temperatures will return with many
valleys likely reaching back into the 90s by mid week, though dry
conditions will favor cool conditions at night.

&&

.AVIATION...Thunderstorms are in the forecast again through this
evening. A lack of wind shear or any stronger steering winds
aloft means storms will move slowly and mostly be heavy rain
producers. Thunderstorms have already begun initiating across
northwest Montana and along the length of the Continental Divide.
KGPI and KBTM have the greatest likelihood of seeing a storm
through roughly 24/0100z. KMSO also could see a storm, though the
threat looks slightly lower. Storms will largely end with sunset
before more widespread convection develops Wednesday afternoon.

&&

.MSO WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MT...None.
ID...None.
&&

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 23, 10:42 PM MDT, 2 hours 50 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 Missoula, MT issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 23, 10:42 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOFlathead48 min
Aug 24, 1:14 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSOMineral46 min
Aug 24, 5:39 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementMSORavalli51 min

Nearby

Flood Watches in Montana, 2022Every flood watch in 2022

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.