Tornadoes · United States · Montana · 2005

F0 tornado, Winifred, Montana, June 17, 2005

This F0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Fergus County on June 17, 2005, touching down at 5:20 PM MDT and reaching 5 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
June 17, 2005
Touchdown
5:20 PM MDT (23:20 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
5 yards (5 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Fergus County
Touchdown point
47.720, -109.370
Lift-off point
47.720, -109.370
Record number
197

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornado was spotted by campers along the Missouri River between Winifred and Highway 191. Minimal damage was reported to fences in the area.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

25 minutes of warning. NWS TFX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:55 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:32 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:56 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFX
22:41 UTC23:15 UTCTornado WarningTFX
22:55 UTC23:32 UTCTornado WarningTFX
23:04 UTC23:55 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTFX

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:48 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), 12:00Z

11.3 hours before the tornado, 97 km from the path. June 17, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2005-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -81076, lifted condensation level 1012 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Great_falls, MT at 12:00Z on 2005-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 93 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.19395878Sfc1 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. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81076 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1012 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Great_falls, MT (KTFX), 00:00Z

0.7 hours after it, 97 km from the path. June 18, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Great_falls, MT at 00:00Z on 2005-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -69224, lifted condensation level 1259 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Great_falls, MT at 00:00Z on 2005-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -57 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.19395878Sfc1 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. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69224 J/kg
Surface CAPE
841 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1259 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lewistown Municipal (LWT), 75 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:54 UTC795970° 10 kt998.6
22:54 UTC7051250° 22 kt271000
22:57 UTC69.850260° 19 kt999.7VCTS
23:31 UTC62.655.4240° 12 kt1000.3-RA
23:54 UTC6757220° 11 kt1000
00:54 UTC6758290° 20 kt261001.7
01:01 UTC64.453.6270° 20 kt311002.7TS
01:10 UTC62.653.6290° 19 kt251002.4-RA

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Great Falls radar (KTFX), 154 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:18 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
22:15 UTCHAIL 0.519 E GeraldineChouteau, MTMARBLE SIZE HAIL 2 TO 3 INCHES DEEP.
23:00 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD25 Nw LewistownFergus, MTESTIMATED LOCATION NORTHWEST OF LEWISTOWN. TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUD.
23:00 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD25 Nw LewistownFergus, MTESTIMATED LOCATION NORTHWEST OF LEWISTOWN. TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUD.
23:15 UTCHAIL 1.7512 N WinifredFergus, MTMARBLE TO G0LF BALL SIZE HAIL. SHORT TERM FLASH FLOODING COVERING THE ROAD TO SEVERAL FEET NEAR THE RIVER.
23:15 UTCHAIL 1.7512 N WinifredFergus, MTMARBLE TO G0LF BALL SIZE HAIL. SHORT TERM FLASH FLOODING COVERING THE ROAD TO SEVERAL FEET NEAR THE RIVER.
23:15 UTCHAIL 1.7512 N WinifredFergus, MTMARBLE TO GULF BALL SIZE HAIL. SHORT TERM FLASH FLOODING COVERING THE ROAD TO SEVERAL FEET NEAR THE RIVER.
23:20 UTCTORNADO12 N WinifredFergus, MTPUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER BETWEEN WINIFRED AND HIGHWAY 191. POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO FENCES IN THE AREA.
23:20 UTCTORNADO12 N WinifredFergus, MTPUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER BETWEEN WINIFRED AND HIGHWAY 191. POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO FENCES IN THE AREA. REPORT CAME FROM SHERIFFS OFFICE IN LEWISTOWN. CAMPERS CAMPING IN THIS VICINITY MADE THE REPORT.
23:20 UTCTORNADO12 N WinifredFergus, MTPUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER BETWEEN WINIFRED AND HIGHWAY 191. POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO FENCES IN THE AREA. REPORT CAME FROM SHERIFFS OFFICE IN LEWISTOWN. CAMPERS CAMPING IN THIS VICINITY MADE THE REPORT.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in MontanaEvery tornado in Montana since 1950Warnings in force in Montana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 17, 2005

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 171:55 PM CDTF0Ascension Parish, LA0.120

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.