Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Goodland, KS

May 21, 1989Kit Carson County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1989, 5:08 PM MDT for Kit Carson County, Colorado. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 21, 1989, 5:08 PM MDT (23:08 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1989, 6:15 PM MDT
In force
67 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, 11.1 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 1989-05-21Temperature 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 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 1989-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -87 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
2606 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
113 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 212308
SVRCOS
COC073-063-220015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLORADO SPRINGS CO
508 PM MDT SUN MAY 21 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF COLORADO
      NORTHEAST LINCOLN...

   IN THE EXTREME EAST PART OF COLORADO
      WESTERN KIT CARSON...

RADAR INDICATES SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHEAST LINCOLN AND
WESTERN KIT CARSON COUNTIES OF COLORADO MOVING TO THE EAST AT
15 MPH.  THESE STORMS ARE LOCATED NEAR THE TOWN OF GENOA IN
LINCOLN COUNTY...2 MILES WEST OF FLAGLER IN KIT CARSON COUNTY
AND 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LIMON IN LINCOLN COUNTY.

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.

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

 HUBER

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, May 21, 5:04 PM MDT, 4 minutes before
KSZ001-002-004-005-220000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
5 PM MDT SUN MAY 21 1989

A LARGE CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS HAS DEVELOPED RAPIDLY OVER EASTERN
COLORADO SINCE 330 PM MDT. THESE STORM ARE MOVING TO THE EAST AT ABOUT
30 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN KANSAS BY 6 PM MDT..MAINLY IN WALLACE
AND GREELEY COUNTIES FIRST. THE STORMS ARE MOVING INTO MORE FAVORABLE
WEATHER CONDITIONS TO PRODUCE SEVERE THUNDqERSTORMS AND PERSONS IN FAR
WESTERN KANSAS SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE CHANGING WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR
LATER STATEMENT OR POSSIBLY WARNING.

DORSEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 5:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLincoln67 min
May 21, 5:41 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDCheyenne34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.