Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Pueblo, CO

May 2, 1988Prowers County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1988, 10:20 AM MDT for Prowers County, Colorado. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 1988, 10:20 AM MDT (16:20 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1988, 10:45 AM MDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Pueblo, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Prowers 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

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 220 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1988-05-02Temperature 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1988-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 221 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
622 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
221 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
235 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 KPUB 021620
TORPUB
COC099-021645-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
1020 AM MDT MON MAY 2 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 AM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF COLORADO
      EXTREME EASTERN PROWERS

AT 1012 AM MDT STATE PATROL REPORTED A TORNADO SIX MILES SOUTH OF
HOLLY IN EXTREME EASTERN PROWERS COUNTY. MOVEMENT OF THE TORNADO
WAS NOT KNOWN...THOUGH AN EARLIER REPORT OF A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR
GRANADA SHOWED THE FUNNELL MOVING SOUTHEAST.

RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM IN THE AREA MOVING TO THE SOUTH.

 DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OU4TRUN A TORNADO. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE
 PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG SHELTER. IF
 NO SHELTER IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

 GRAY

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, May 2, 8:53 AM MDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
852 AM MDT MON MAY 2 1988

...SNOW...THUNDERSTORMS AND WINDS IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO...

THE SNOW CONTINUES TO FALL ACROSS MANY PARTS OF SOUTHEAST
COLORADO WITH 4 INCHES OF SNOW ON THE GROUND AT WALSENBURG
IN HUERFANO COUNTY. WIND GUSTS AS HIGH AS 55 MPH HAVE BEEN
RECORDED AT PUEBLO MEMORIAL AIRPORT AT 815 AM MDT THIS
MORNING. A THUNDERSTORM WAS IN PROGRESS AT LA JUNTA AT 822 AM.
SMALL HAIL/ICE PELLETS WERE REPORTED AT LAMAR AT 840 AM.

THE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALL DAY WITH GRADUAL
DECREASE BY THIS EVENING AS AN INTENSIFIED LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
DRIFTS SLOWLY EAST ACROSS THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES.

THE HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOTUHEAST COLORADO
TODAY AND MOTORISTS WITH HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES SHOULD EXERCISE
CAUTION.
GALLEGOS
Special weather statement, May 2, 10:04 AM MDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
1003 AM MDT MON MAY 2 1988

   ...STRONG WINDS CONTINUE IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO...

A WIND GUST TO 69 MPH WAS RECORDED AT PUEBLO MEMORIAL
AIRPORT AT 945 AM MDT. AT LA JUNTA A GUST TO 67 MPH WAS
RECORDED AT 953 AM.

A HIGH WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST COLORADO
TODAY.
GALLEGOS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pueblo, CO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 9:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa61 min

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.