Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Goodland, KS
NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1989, 5:41 PM MDT for Cheyenne County, Colorado. It was in force for 34 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
- May 21, 1989, 5:41 PM MDT (23:41 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 1989, 6:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Goodland, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cheyenne 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 6:00 PM MDT | Hail 2.75 | Cheyenne, 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 128 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KCOS 212341
TORCOS
COC017-220015-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLORADO SPRINGS CO
541 PM MDT SUN MAY 21 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY
IN THE EXTREME EAST PART OF COLORADO
WEST CENTRAL CHEYENNE
PUBLIC REPORTS AT 538 PM MDT A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 10 MILES
NORTH OF THE TOWN OF KIT CARSON MOVING TO THE SOUTHWEST.
IN HOMES GO TO THE 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
THE NEAREST DITCH...GULLY OR OTHER LOW SPOT OR SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.
TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
RELAY YOUR REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.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 21, 5:04 PM MDT, 37 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 5:08 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Lincoln | 67 min |
| May 21, 5:08 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Kit Carson | 67 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.