Alert archive / Montana / Flash Flood Warnings

Flash Flood Warnings in Montana, 2009

17 flash flood warnings in 2009. An alert counts here when it covered any part of the state, so the counties below add up to more than the state. The archive of flash flood warnings reaches back to 1986.

Flash Flood Warnings by county

Each county as a circle sized by its count in 2009. Tap one for its archive.

Flash Flood Warnings
17
Busiest month
August8 flash flood warnings
Busiest day
August 24, 20093 flash flood warnings

Over time

By month

Warning verification

How often warnings here had a storm report inside them, and how much warning the reports had.

4 of 17 flash flood warnings covering Montana in 2009 had a flash flood report inside them; 5 of 13 flash flood reports fell inside a warning, on average 18 minutes after it went out.

Montana, 2009

WarningsWith a reportFalse alarm ratioReportsInside a warningMean lead time
Flash flood warnings17476%1338%18 min

Each office's whole area, 2009

WarningsWith a reportFalse alarm ratioReportsInside a warningMean lead time
NWS Missoula, MT: flash flood warnings3167%813%48 min
NWS Great Falls, MT: flash flood warnings20100%0
NWS Billings, MT: flash flood warnings8363%850%11 min
NWS Glasgow, MT: flash flood warnings40100%0

An office's figures cover every county it serves, including across state lines.

Verified by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow, which matches each storm-based warning with the local storm reports inside its polygon while it was in force, within 15 km of its edge: a tornado warning counts as verified on a tornado report, a severe thunderstorm warning on hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more, or wind damage, a flash flood warning on a flash flood report. The false alarm ratio is the share of warnings with no such report; "inside a warning" is the probability of detection, the share of reports that fell inside one; lead time runs from the warning's issue to each report inside it, counting zero for a report that came first. A warning with no report is not proof nothing happened: reports come from spotters, the public and damage surveys, and are thin where few people live.

The alerts

Every alert, in the order issued. Times are local, Mountain Time. Each opens its own page with the text, the map, the radar and the sounding.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 5:59 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZPark, Sweet Grass6 hr
May 24, 8:23 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZRosebud6 hr
Jun 5, 4:21 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMSORavalli114 min
Jun 15, 7:23 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZFallon4 hr
Jul 2, 12:56 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZBig Horn3 hr
Jul 2, 6:40 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZGolden Valley, Wheatland3 hr
Jul 4, 7:10 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZGolden Valley5 hr
Jul 26, 8:28 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMSOMissoula111 min
Jul 27, 6:29 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZCarbon99 min
Aug 6, 2:42 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningMSOSilver Bow93 min
Aug 7, 8:51 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningTFXLewis and Clark, Teton6 hr
Aug 7, 4:37 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBYZStillwater114 min
Aug 7, 10:36 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGGWDawson, Richland, Wibaux4 hr
Aug 9, 4:34 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningTFXToole3 hr
Aug 23, 10:17 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGGWDawson, McCone, Richland3 hr
Aug 23, 10:20 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGGWDaniels, Sheridan3 hr
Aug 23, 10:46 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGGWRichland3 hr

By county

Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.

The busiest days

Days with the most alerts issued, by UTC date.

Nearby

Alerts in force nowTornadoes on recordThe radar archive20082010

Sources

National Weather Service watches, warnings, advisories and statements from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's VTEC archive, which reconstructs tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood and marine warnings back to 1986 from the NWS text archive. Storm Prediction Center watches and mesoscale discussions from SPC's archive through the Mesonet. County centers from the US Census Bureau. Warning verification from the Mesonet's Cow. Rebuilt daily.