Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 1, 1992Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 1, 1992, 5:31 PM MDT for Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 44 min. 4 reports 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
Jul 1, 1992, 5:31 PM MDT (23:31 UTC)
Expired
Jul 1, 1992, 6:15 PM MDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Arapahoe County, CO

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 1, 5:49 PM MDTHail 2Arapahoe, CO
Jul 1, 5:50 PM MDTHail 2Arapahoe, CO
Jul 1, 6:10 PM MDTHail 0.75Arapahoe, CO
Jul 1, 6:12 PM MDTHail 1.75Arapahoe, 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, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 1992-07-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 50 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1992-07-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
876 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 012332
TORDEN
COC005-020015-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
531 PM MDT WED JUL 01 1992

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

IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
     CENTRAL ARAPAHOE

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     BYERS AND DEER TRAIL

AT 531 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BYERS ...OR ABOUT 37
MILES NORTHWEST OF LIMON.

THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 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.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
FORECAST OFFICE IN DENVER.

DULONG
LAT...LON 3957 10394 3957 10427 3973 10427 3973 10394

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, Jul 1, 12:20 PM MDT, 5 hours 11 minutes before
COZ002-004-011-012-013-020000-

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST COLORADO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1140 AM MDT WED JUL 1 1992

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COLORADO COUNTIES

ADAMS          DENVER     JACKSON      LOGAN       SEDGWICK     YUMA
ARAPAHOE       DOUGLAS    JEFFERSON    MORGAN      SUMMIT
BOULDER        GILPIN     LARIMER      PARK        WASHINGTON
CLEAR CREEK    GRAND      LAKE         PHILLIPS    WELD

SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE IN THE AREA...BUT SHOULD NOT DEVELOP UNTIL
LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR THIS EVENING.

A COOL AND STABLE AIRMASS HAS DROPPED INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO TODAY
BEHIND A COLD FRONT.  EAST TO NORTHEAST UPSLOPING FLOW HAS CAUSED
WIDESPREAD CLOUDINESS.   AREAS OF LIGHT RAIN AND DRIZZLE HAVE BEEN
OCCURRING...MAINLY OVER THE LOWER NORTHEAST PLAINS AND BORDER.

LOOKING TOWARDS THE WEST...A FAIRLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM IS
APPROACHING COLORADO FROM UTAH.  THIS SYSTEM WILL HELP SPAWN NUMEROUS
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHERN COLORADO
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...SPECIFICALLY FROM THE NORTHEAST FOOTHILLS
AND PALMER DIVIDE WESTWARD.  A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD APPROACH SEVERE
LEVELS...MAINLY OVER OR NEAR THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF LARIMER COUNTY
SOUTHWARD TO DOUGLAS COUNTY.  COLDER AIR WILL BE MOVING IN ALOFT...
DROPPING THE SNOW LEVEL TO 10 THOUSAND FEET.

THIS APPROACHING SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO CHANGE THE STABLE AIRMASS OF
NORTHEAST COLORADO TO ONE FAVORING STORM DEVELOPMENT BY EARLY TONIGHT.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BECOME NUMEROUS OVER THE URBAN CORRIDOR
...AND SPREAD EASTWARD TO THE KANSAS AND NEBRASKA BORDERS BY 8 PM THIS
EVENING.  SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD ALSO BE'COME SEVERE.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION COULD BE NEEDED ALONG THE URBAN CORRIDOR
LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AND COULD BE EXPANDED TO THE NORTHEAST
PLAINS/BORDER REGION THIS EVENING.

DULONG
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 5:06 PM MDT, 25 minutes before
COZ011-012-020000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
510 PM MDT WED JUL 01 1992

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM SOUTHEAST OF PLATTEVILLE...

AT 5 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG
AND RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM SOUTHEAST OF PLATTEVILLE OR ABOUT 30
MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT COLLINS.  THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT
ABOUT 10 MPH.

HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORM AS IT
MOVES ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL WELD COUNTY NORTH OF HUDSON OVER THE NEXT 30
MINUTES.

MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

ET

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 5:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes in 1992

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.