Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 9, 1986Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 9, 1986, 3:46 PM MDT for Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 24 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 9, 1986, 3:46 PM MDT (21:46 UTC)
Expired
Jun 9, 1986, 4:10 PM MDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 95 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1986-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1986-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1478 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 092146
TORDEN
COC001-005-092210-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
346 PM MDT MON JUN 9 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 410 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST COLORADO...EASTERN ADAMS AND EASTERN ARAPAHOE

THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING TOWNS AND CITIES... STRASBERG..
DEER TRAIL AND BYERS.

AT 340 PM MDT THE PUBLIC REPORTED SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS 40 MILES
EAST OF DENVER SOUTHEAST OF THE TOWN OF STRASBERG.  THE FUNNEL
CLOUDS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

IN HOMES GO TO THE BASEMENT OR INTO A CLOSET OR BATHROOM.  IN SCHOOLS
...HIGH RISES AND HOSPITALS GO TO AN INTERIOR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GO TO A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.  IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE..LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH...GULLY OR OTHER LOW SPOT.
<
IN ALL CASES...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS...DOORS AND OUTSIDE WALLS.
PROTECT YOUR HEAD AND FACE.  TRY TO GET UNDER SOMETHING STURDY.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORTS TO THE NATIONA8L WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER...OR
CALL YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER AT
361-0663.  DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER FOR INFORMATION.

THALER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 9, 3:28 PM MDT, 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
330 PM MDT MON JUN 9 1986

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORM IN DOUGLAS COUNTY...

AT 325PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWESTERN
DOUGLAS COUNTY JUST WEST OF CASTLE ROCK.  THE STORM WAS MOVING SLOWLY
TOWARD THE EAST AT 5 MPH.

A NUMBER OF FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC WITH THIS
STORM..AND PEOPLE IN NORTHERN DOUGLAS COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR HEAVY
RAIN AND HAIL.  AND...TORNADOES CANNOT BE RULED OUT.

MARKKANEN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 6:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington60 min
Jun 9, 9:49 AM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Jefferson26 min
Jun 9, 10:27 AM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld23 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

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.