Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 18, 1987Yuma County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1987, 7:03 PM MDT for Yuma County, Colorado. It was in force for 32 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1987, 7:03 PM MDT (01:03 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1987, 7:35 PM MDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Yuma County, CO

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 18, 7:23 PM MDTHail 1Yuma, CO

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 70 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 132 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-146 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2041 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
242 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 190108
SVRDEN
COC125-190135-
 
BULLETIN...IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
703 PM MDT MON MAY 18 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 735 PM  MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST COLORADO:
 
     NORTHEAST YUMA
 
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING TOWNS/CITIES:
 
     WRAY  LAIRD
 
AT 700 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 60 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF STERLING OR 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF WRAY.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. 
 
REMEMBER..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE LARGE DAMAGING
HAIL..DAMAGING WINDS OF OVER 60 MPH..DEADLY LIGHTNING..AND
HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN QUICKLY FLOOD A LOW LYING AREA.
 
TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE
IN DENVER..OR CALL YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
AT 361-0663.  DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER FOR INFORMATION.
 
DULONG    
 
LAT..LON  4043 10249 4042 10203 3997 10205 3997 10246

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, May 18, 4:32 PM MDT, 2 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
430 PM MDT MON MAY 18 1987

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BECOMING NUMEROUS OVER WELD COUNTY
   IN NORTHEAST COLORADO...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE BECOMING NUMEROUS OVER WELD COUNTY.
A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BECOME HEAVY WITH LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL INDICATED.

THIS ACTIVITY IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH AND IT LOOKS
LIKE IT SHOULD CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE OVER WELD COUNTY
AND MAY SPREAD INTO MORGAN COUNTY AS WELL DURING THE NEXT COUPLE
OF HOURS.  LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL..GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL
MAY BE EXPECTED IN THESE AREAS.

DULONG
Special weather statement, May 18, 6:22 PM MDT, 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
620 PM MDT MON MAY 18 1987

...GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS IN MORGAN COUNTY OF NORTHEAST COLORADO...

GUSTY WINDS..TRIGGERED BY A STRONG THUNDERSTORM..HAVE OCCURRED
IN MORGAN COUNTY DURING THE PAST HOUR.  GUSTS TO 45 MPH WERE RECORDED
AT FORT MORGAN AT 6 PM MDT.

GUSTY WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WILL CONTINUE OVER MORGAN COUNTY AND
FAN OUT INTO NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY DURING THE NEXT 30 MINUTES
BEFORE DYING OUT.

DULONG

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.