Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Goodland, KS

July 7, 1988Kit Carson County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 7, 1988, 1:43 PM MDT for Kit Carson County, Colorado. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 7, 1988, 1:43 PM MDT (19:43 UTC)
Expired
Jul 7, 1988, 2:15 PM MDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Kit Carson 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, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 83 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 1988-07-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 443 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1988-07-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
443 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-246 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1259 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 071944
TORCOS
COC063-072015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLORADO SPRINGS CO
143 PM MDT THU JUL 7 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLORADO SPRINGS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
          ...EASTERN KIT CARSON
 
AT 130 PM THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON A SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE
GROUND 4 MILES NORTHEAST OF BURLINGTON COLORADO MOVING TOWARD THE
NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 10 MILES AN HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOLR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, Jul 7, 11:34 AM MDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1232 PM CDT THU JUL 7 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER A SMALL PART OF NORTHWEST KANSAS...

AT 1232 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS NEAR
OBERLIN IN DECATUR COUNTY AND 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ATWOOD IN
SOUTHEAST RAWLINS COUNTY.

DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS...HEAVY RAIN ACROSS DECATUR AND
EASTERN RAWLINS COUNTIES MAY CAUSE SOME FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN LOW
LYING AREAS AND ALONG SAPPA CREEK.

PERSONS NEAR THE AFFECTED AREAS SHOULD USE EXTREME CAUTION AND BE
PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGH GROUND SHOULD ANY FLOODING TAKE PLACE.

WORKMAN

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.