Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Goodland, KS

June 24, 1987Elbert County, Lincoln County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 24, 1987, 3:42 PM MDT for Elbert County, Lincoln County, Colorado. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 24, 1987, 3:42 PM MDT (21:42 UTC)
Expired
Jun 24, 1987, 4:15 PM MDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Elbert County, CO, Lincoln 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

Fort Carson/Butt, CO (KFCS), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 91 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, Fort Carson/Butt, CO at 12:00Z on 1987-06-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 571 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Fort Carson/Butt, CO at 12:00Z on 1987-06-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 square meters per square second.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.
Mixed-layer CAPE
571 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-297 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1281 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 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 KCOS 242142
TORCOS
COC073-039-242142-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLORADO SPRINGS CO
342 PM MDT WED JUN 24 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 342 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

EAST CENTRAL COLORADO...
 WESTERN LINCOLN AND EASTERN ELBERT

A TORNADO HAS BEEN SIGHTED BY WEATHER SERVICE PERSONNEL NORTHWEST
OF THE LIMON RADAR SITE.  MOVEMENT IS TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST AT ABOUT
15 MPH.

IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA..GO TO A STURDY SHELTER AWAY
FROM CREEK BEDS AND OTHER LOW AREAS PRONE TO FLOODING.  REMEMBER...
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS OF OVER
60 MPH...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN QUICKLY FLOOD
LOW LYING AREAS.

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.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY7 YOUR REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

 MOORE

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 24, 10:53 AM MDT, 4 hours 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1100 AM MDT WED JUN 24 1987

AT 1100 AM MDT RADAR INDICATED LIGHT RAIN SHOWERS IN A 15 MILE WIDE BAND
IN NORTHWEST KANSAS BETWEEN NORTON AND COLBY MOVING EAST 15MPH.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND OCCASIONAL THUNDERSHOWERS IN NORTHWEST AND WEST
CENTRAL KANSAS BETWEEN HOXIE AND SCOTT CITY ARE MOVING EAST 15 MPH.

NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED THIS MORNING WITH THIS PRECIPITATION.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO REDEVELOP THIS EVENING AND EARLY TONIGHT
WITH SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST STATEMENT UNTIL PRECIPITATION BECOMES SIGNIFICANT.
FURTHER INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE WITH NETWORK RADARS RADAR NARRATIVE
SUMMARIES IS	SUED HOURLY ON THE HALF HOUR.

MYERS
Local storm report, Jun 24, 12:03 PM MDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT FOR TUE JUN 23 1987...DELAYED REPORT...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1158 AM MDT WED JUNE 24 1987

ALL TIMES MDT.

2236 PM...TSTM WIND 65 KT. 3 E GOODLAND. IRIGATION SaPRINKLER SYSTEM
          BLOWN OVER.  (SHERMAN COUNTY)
MYERS
Special weather statement, Jun 24, 2:55 PM MDT, 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
255 PM MDT WED JUN 24 1987

.....TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 257 IS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF WESTERN
KANSAS AND A LARGE PART OF EASTERN COLORADO TILL 8PM MDT THIS EVENING..

AT 250 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A 20 MILE WIDE LINE OF INTENSE TO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHING FROM SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA SOUTHWEST TO EASTERN
COLORADO. THE LINE EXTENDS FROM CURTIS NEBRASKA SOUTHWEST TO JUST WEST
OF BENKELMAN NEBRASKA...SOUTHWEST TO JUST WEST OF IDELIA COLORADO...
SOUTHWEST TO WEST OF LIMON COLORADO. MOVEMENT IS EAST 25 MPH.

NO SEVERE WEATHER OR ANY PRECIPITATION IS IN NORTHWEST KANSAS. HOWEVER
THE THUNDERSTORM LINE IN EASTERN COLORADO WILL BE MOVING INTO EXTREME
NORTHWEST KANSAS IN CHEYENNE COUNTY BETWEEN 3 AND 4 PM MDT.

MYERS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Goodland, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 23, 6:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDElbert66 min
Jun 23, 6:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEl Paso56 min
Jun 23, 7:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDElbert, Lincoln68 min
Jun 23, 7:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEl Paso68 min
Jun 23, 7:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson51 min
Jun 23, 8:16 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDLincoln34 min
Jun 23, 8:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson56 min
Jun 24, 3:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson62 min
Jun 24, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEl Paso60 min
Jun 24, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDElbert60 min
Jun 24, 4:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEl Paso, Lincoln76 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.