Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 20, 1987Adams County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1987, 2:27 PM MDT for Adams County, Colorado. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 20, 1987, 2:27 PM MDT (20:27 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1987, 2:55 PM MDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Adams 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, 8.5 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 1987-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 791 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
791 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-190 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1292 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 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 202029
TORDEN
COC001-202055-
 
BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
227 PM MDT SAT JUN 20 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 255 PM  MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST COLORADO:
 
     CENTRAL ADAMS
 
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING TOWNS/CITIES:
 
    WATKINS AND BENNETT
 
THE STORM IS LOCATED 23 MILES EAST OF DENVER.
 
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 OR OTHER LOW SPOT.
IN ALL CASES..STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS..DOORS AND OUTSIDE WALLS.
 
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 T$HE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
AT 361-0663.  DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER FOR INFORMATION.
 
LAT..LON  4000 10449 4001 10427 3975 10440 3975 10470

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 20, 12:41 PM MDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1240 PM MDT SAT JUN 20 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHEAST COLORADO FOOTHILLS...

THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVLOPING OVER THE NORTHEAST COLORADO FOOTHILLS AND
OVER THE PIKES PEAK-PALMER LAKE DIVIDE.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED 35 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF DENVER IN SOUTHEAST DOUGLAS
COUNTY...IN NORTHERN JEFFERSON AND EXTREME NORTHEAST CLEAR CREEK
COUNTIES 10 TO 25 MILES WEST OF DENVER AND IN CENTRAL LARIMER COUNTY
45 TO 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF DENVER.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO
THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL AND LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE WITH THE THUNDERSTOR_MS WHEN THEY BECOME STORNGER DURING THE
AFTERNOON.

BALINT
Special weather statement, Jun 20, 1:41 PM MDT, 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
140 PM MDT SAT JUN 20 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHEAST COLORADO FOOTHILLS...

THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP OVER THE NORTHEAST COLORADO FOOTHILLS
AND OVER THE ADJACENT PLAINS.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED
25 MILES SOUTH OF DENVER IN WEST CENTRAL DOUGLAS COUNTY...10 TO 15
MILES SOUTHWEST OF DENVER IN EAST CENTRAL JEFFERSON COUNTY...15 MILES
NORTHEAST OF FORT COLLINS IN NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL AND LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY CONTINUE TO DEVELOP DURING
THE AFTERNOON.

BALINT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 2:06 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUArapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson29 min
Jun 20, 2:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe38 min
Jun 20, 3:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld58 min
Jun 20, 4:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan, Morgan, Weld50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.