Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 17, 1991Sedgwick County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 17, 1991, 4:04 PM MDT for Sedgwick County, Colorado. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 17, 1991, 4:04 PM MDT (22:04 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 1991, 4:30 PM MDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Sedgwick County, CO

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 134 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 1991-06-17Temperature 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 1991-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 92 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3163 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 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 172207
TORDEN
COC115-172230-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
404 PM MDT MON JUN 17 1991

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
     SEDGWICK

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING TOWNS/CITIES
     JULESBURG...OVID AND SEDGWICK

AT 404 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES SOUTH OF
SEDGWICK ...OR ABOUT 39 MILES NORTHEAST OF STERLING.  NUMEROUS REPORTS
OF FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM THE PUBLIC.

THE STORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT.  GET
UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.  IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE
BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET.  USE
BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.  IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN
THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH
YOUR HANDS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST
COLORADO.

HOLMES

LAT...LON 4078 10211 4076 10260 4098 10262 4099 10217

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, Jun 17, 2:56 PM MDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
COZ011>013-172230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
255 PM MDT MON JUN 17 1991

...VERY STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS IN DENVER AREA...

HIGH-BASED SHOWERS HAVE BEEN SPREADING EASTWARD ACROSS THE DENVER
AREA DURING THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS.  THE RESULT HAS BEEN AREAS OF
VERY STRONG WINDS.  AT 250 PM MDT...WIND GUSTS TO 59 MPH HIT THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT STAPLETON AIRPORT...OVERTURNING SMALL
BUT RATHER HEAVY OBJECTS AND LCAUSING BLOWING DUST.

PEOPLE IN DENVER AND OTHER NORTHEAST COLORADO LOCATIONS SHOULD BE
PREPARED FOR LOCALIZED BUT VERY STRONG WINDS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.  COMMUTERS...BE READY!

DULONG
Special weather statement, Jun 17, 3:52 PM MDT, 12 minutes before
COZ013-172230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
350 PM MDT MON JUN 17 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST COLORADO UNTIL
1000 PM MDT...

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST COLORADO UNTIL 1000 PM
MDT.  IN COLORADO THIS INCLUDES PHILLIPS...SEDGWICK...AND EASTERN YUMA
COUNTIES.  CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WATCH AREA ARE WRAY...HOLYOKE...AND
JULESBURG.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAIN LOCATED 10 MILES WEST OF JULESBURG AT 345 PM MDT.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH.

BE PREPARED FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND POSSIBLY
TORNADOS.  TAKE SHELTER IN A DITCH IF YOU ARE IN AN EXPOSED AREA.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL BROADCASTS FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION.

HOLMES
Special weather statement, Jun 17, 3:55 PM MDT, 9 minutes before
COZ013-172230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
350 PM MDT MON JUN 17 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST COLORADO UNTIL
900 PM MDT...

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST COLORADO UNTIL 900 PM
MDT.  IN COLORADO THIS INCLUDES PHILLIPS...SEDGWICK...AND EASTERN YUMA
COUNTIES.  CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WATCH AREA ARE WRAY...HOLYOKE...AND
JULESBURG.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAIN LOCATED 10 MILES WEST OF JULESBURG AT 345 PM MDT.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH.

BE PREPARED FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND POSSIBLY
TORNADOS.  TAKE SHELTER IN A DITCH IF YOU ARE IN AN EXPOSED AREA.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL BROADCASTS FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION.

HOLMES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 6:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUYuma32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.