Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 26, 1988Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1988, 2:13 PM MDT for Adams County, Arapahoe 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
Jun 26, 1988, 2:13 PM MDT (20:13 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1988, 2:45 PM MDT
In force
32 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 26, 2:37 PM MDTTornado F1Adams, 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, 8.2 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 1988-06-26Temperature 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 km15 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 1988-06-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 2 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 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 262017
TORDEN
COC001-005-262045-
 
BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
213 PM MDT SUN JUN 26 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 PM  MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST COLORADO:
 
     SOUTH CENTRAL ADAMS
     NORTH CENTRAL ARAPAHOE
 
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING TOWNS/CITIES:
 
     BENNETT AND WATKINS
 
THE STORM WAS LOCATED 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BENNETT..WHICH IS 28
MILES EAST OF DENVER.
 
AT 213PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BENNETT
MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST AT ABOUT 15 MILES PER HOUR.

IN HOMES GO TOTHE 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 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
AT 361-0663.  DO NOT CALL THIS NUMBER FOR INFORMATION.
 
LAT..LON  3989 10468 3980 10436 3963 10436 3965 10464

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 26, 1:36 PM MDT, 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  DENVER CO
135PM MDT SUNDAY JUNE 26 1988

...ANOTHER DAY OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...

AT 130 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING IN A LINE
FROM NEAR AGATE IN ELBERT COUNTY THROUGH WATKINS TO THORNTON IN ADAMS
COUNTY.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

THE STORMS ARE LIKELY TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...INTENSE LIGHTNING...STRONG
GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL IN AREAS TO THE EAST AND NORTH OF
DENVER UNTIL AT LEAST 230 PM MDT.

MARKKANEN

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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.