Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 8, 1990Kit Carson County, Yuma County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 8, 1990, 5:43 PM MDT for Kit Carson County, Yuma County, Colorado. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 8, 1990, 5:43 PM MDT (23:43 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1990, 6:43 PM MDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Kit Carson County, CO, Yuma 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 66 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 1990-05-08Temperature 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 1990-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 218 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
789 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
218 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
479 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 082348
SVRDEN
COC073-063-121-125-090043-

BULLETIN...IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
543 PM MDT TUE MAY 08 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 643 PM  MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF EAST CENTRAL COLORADO:

     NORTHEASTERN LINCOLN
     NORTHWESTERN KIT CARSON
     SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON
     SOUTHWESTERN YUMA

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING TOWNS/CITIES:

     COPE AND JOES

THE STORM WAS LOCATED 9 MILES NORTH OF COPE..WHICH IS 47 MILES
NORTHWEST OF BURLINGTON.

AT 543 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES NORTHEAST 
OF ANTON COLORADO...OR ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF AKRON... MOVING
TOWARD THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  THIS STORM PROBABLY CONTAINS
LARGE HAIL AND MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS. 

IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA..GO TO A STURDY
SHELTER AWAY FROM CREEK BEDS AND OTHER FLOOD PRONE AREAS.
REMEMBER..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE LARGE DAMAGING
HAIL..DAMAGING WINDS OF OVER 60 MPH..DEADLY LIGHTNING..AND
HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN QUICKLY FLOOD A LOW LYING AREA.

THESE STORMS CAN PRODUCE A TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE
WARNING..SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE
OF SAFETY IF ONE IS SPOTTED.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE AREA OF EASTERN COLORADO
UNTIL 9 PM MDT.

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.

MARKKANEN 

LAT..LON  3943 10258 3938 10341 3989 10302 3994 10253

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 8, 4:38 PM MDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
COZALL-082200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
430 PM MDT THU MAY 8 1990

...SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY ISSUED FOR TONIGHT IN THE NORTHERN
   AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS GENERALLY TO THE NORTH OF ASPEN...

A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM CURRENTLY OVER NORTHERN UTAH WILL
WHIP ACROSS NORTHERN COLORADO TONIGHT AND EARLY WEDNESDAY.  THE SNOW
LEVEL WILL FALL FROM AROUND 9000 FEET THIS EVENING TO AROUND 5000 FEET
BY LATER TONIGHT.  THIS WILL BRING SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW THROUGHOUT THE
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OVERNIGHT...AS WELL AS TO THE PLAINS
OF NORTHEASTERN COLORADO BY LATER TONIGHT.

ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES ARE EXPECTED IN THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL
MOUNTAINS...WITH UP TO 12 INCHES IN THE FAVORED WEST FACING SLOPES.
STRONG WINDS WILL CAUSE AREAS OF BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW.  IN THE
FOOTHILLS OF THE NORTHERN FRONT RANGE ABOVE 6000 FEET 1 TO 4 INCHES OF
SNOW IS POSSIBLE BY LATER TONIGHT.  A LIGHT SNOW ACCUMULATION IS ALSO
POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTHEAST PLAINS AS WELL AS THE CITY OF DENVER.

AN ACCUMULATION OF SNOW THIS LATE IN THE SEASON COULD PROVE DAMAGING TO
TREES WITH NEW SPRING GROWTH.  OTHER TENDER VEGETATION...AS WELL AS
WEAK O[R NEWBORN LIVESTOCK...MAY NEED PROTECTION FROM THE WET AND COLD.

PERSONS TRAVELING THROUGHOUT NORTHERN AND NORTHEAST COLORADO TONIGHT...
ESPECIALLY THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS...SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR WINTER-LIKE
CONDITIONS.

MCQUEEN
Special weather statement, May 8, 5:02 PM MDT, 41 minutes before
COZALL-082200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
450 PM MDT TUE MAY 8 1990

...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 900 PM MDT FOR SOUTHEAST DOUGLAS...SOUTHEAST
   WASHINGTON...AND SOUTHERN YUMA COUNTIES...

AT 450 PM MDT RADAR WAS SHOWING AN AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
OVER PARTS OF MORGAN...WASHINGTON...AND EXTREME EASTERN ADAMS COUNTIES.
A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHEAT OF AKRON.
OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SOUTH OF AKRON IN SOUTHERN WASHINGTON
COUNTY.

THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT ABOUT 35 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN WACHINGTON COUNTY ARE SHOWING THE MOST
RECENT SIGNS OF INTENSIFICATION AND WOULD BE THE MOST LIKELY TO PRODUCE
SEVERE WEATHER.

THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING THROUGH EAST-CENTRAL COLORADO MAY CONTAIN
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  THERE IS ALSO A THREAT OF TORNADOES.

MCQUEEN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 5:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln, Washington60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.