Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 13, 1988Adams County, Morgan County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 13, 1988, 2:54 PM MDT for Adams County, Morgan County, Colorado. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports 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
Jun 13, 1988, 2:54 PM MDT (20:54 UTC)
Expired
Jun 13, 1988, 3:55 PM MDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Adams County, CO, Morgan 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
Jun 13, 3:22 PM MDTTornado F1Adams, CO
Jun 13, 3:30 PM MDTHail 1.75Morgan, 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 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 75 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 1988-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 318 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1988-06-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -17 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
318 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-236 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
985 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 132056
SVRDEN
COC087-001-132155-
 
BULLETIN...IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
254 PM MDT MON JUN 13 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE

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, Jun 13, 9:45 AM MDT, 5 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1000 AM MDT MON JUN 13 1988

    ...POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR EASTERN COLORADO TODAY...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE AGAIN EXPECTED OVER EASTERN COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING.  THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT SOME OF THEM MAY BECOME
SEVERE...PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN..LARGE HAIL..VERY STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND
PERHAPS EVEN TORNADOES.

THE NORTHEAST  AND EAST CENTRAL PARTS OF THE STATE ARE UNDER THE
GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY AND THIS EVENING.
THIS INCLUDES THE DENVER METROPOLITAN AREA.  A WEAK COLD
FRONT HAS PASSED THROUGH THIS PART OF THE STATE BRINGING QUITE A BIT OF
MOISTURE WITH IT.  IN ADDITION...A RELATIVELY STRONG LOW PRESSURE AREA
IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE LOCATED NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS THIS MORNING WILL
CROSS OVER THE MOUNTAINS INTO EASTERN COLORADO DURING THE AFTERNOON.
THIS SYSTEM WILL BE THE TRIGGER FOR THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS.

PERSONS IN EASTERN COLORAzDO SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE WEATHER TODAY.
STAY TUNED TO LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO  AND BE
PREPARED TO TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTIONS IF SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES OR
WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.
PAUTZ
Special weather statement, Jun 13, 11:55 AM MDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1200 NOON MDT MON JUN 13 1988

    ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF EASTERN COLORADO THIS
AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EASTERN COLORADO
FROM 1215 MDT MONDAY AFTERNOON UNTIL 7 PM MDT EARLY MONDAY EVENING.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING AND INTENSIFYING ALONG THE EASTERN
FOOTHILLS AND ARE EXPECTED TO RAPIDLY DEVELOP OVER MANY AREAS OF THE
EASTERN PLAINS OF COLORADO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN..LARGE HAIL
STRONG GUSTY WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY TORNDAOES.

PERSONS IN EASTERN COLORADO SHOULD KEEP AN\ EYE ON THE WEATHER TODAY.
STAY TUNED TO LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO  AND BE
PREPARED TO TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTIONS IF SEVERE WEATHER
WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.
PAUTZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 6:38 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld62 min
Jun 13, 1:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Douglas58 min
Jun 13, 1:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams58 min
Jun 13, 1:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe32 min
Jun 13, 2:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver, Jefferson61 min
Jun 13, 2:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld61 min
Jun 13, 2:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.