Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 73, NWS Goodland, KS

August 12, 1994Yuma County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 1994, 6:31 PM MDT for Yuma County, Colorado. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 1994, 6:31 PM MDT (00:31 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1994, 7:05 PM MDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Yuma County, CO

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 70 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 00:00Z on 1994-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 22 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 00:00Z on 1994-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 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
22 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-150 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2217 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 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 KGLD 130032
TORGLD
COC125-130135-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
631 PM MDT FRI AUG 12 1994

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 735 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

   ...SOUTHWESTERN YUMA COUNTY
 
AT 630 PM MDT...GOODLAND RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 15 MILES
NORTHWEST OF JOES...OR 58 MILES NORTHEAST OF LIMON.  THE STORM PRODUCING
THIS POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND SHOULD MOVE
INTO THE VICINITY OF JOES BY 715 PM.

THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED A BRIEF TORNADO AND LARGE HAIL IN WASHINGTON
COUNTY EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON.

GO TO THE BASEM>ENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

BARKER

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.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Aug 12, 2:28 PM MDT, 4 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 2:28 PM MDT, 4 hours 3 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
228 PM MDT (328 PM CDT) FRI AUG 12 1994

RECOMMENDATIONS:

FOR TOP...KEEP CURRENT ZONE GROUPS.
          GROUP 1...MINS MID 60S...CLR SKIES...S TO W WNDS 5 TO 15.
          FOR SAT...MID TO UPR 90S...MS SKIES...W WNDS 5 TO 15.
          GROUP 2...NO RCMDS ALL ELEMENT LOOK GOOD.

FOR OMA...NO RCMDS...CURRENT FCST ON TRACK.
FOR DEN...MINS UPR 50S...SLGT CHC TSTMS AND PC SKIES...LGT VRBL WND.
          FOR SAT...LWR 90S...MS SKIES...W TO SW WINDS 15 TO 25.

DISCUSSION:

SFC TROF OVR EXTRM NW KS/ECNTRL KS AS SHOWN BY SFC ANAL.  WND AT GLD
HAS BEEN ALL OVR THE PLACE.  CAP OVR WRN PTN OF CWA IS 4 DEGREES AND
MDT MCNV OVR SAME AREA DUE TO TROF.  VORT LOBE MOVG IN FROM UT...HWVR
APPEARS WITH TRAJ SHOWN BY SATL THAT STRONGEST PORTION WL GO NORTH OF
AREA AND WL NOT HAVE ENUF PUNCH TO BREAK CAP AND GENERATE A LOT OF
ACTIVITY.  ANY TSTMS THAT DO DVLP WL BE IN VCNTY OF SFC TROF.

TEMPS OVR WRN PTN OF CWA WL BE LWR(CLOSER TO NGM) THAN RMNDR OF AREA DUE
TO BEING ON WEST SIDE OF TROF AND HAVG LIGHTER WNDS.  HIR TEMPS FURTHER
EAST DUE TO STRONGER WINDS AND HIR DPS.  TEMPS SHOULD BE IN 90S DUE TO
WLY FLOW AHD OF APPROACHING FRONT AND PLENTY OF SUNSHINE.
THERFORE...WL FAVOR THE LFM MOS.  ALTHOUGH FRONT WL BE APPROACHING FM
NORTH AND BE A FOCUS AT LOW LVLS...WL HAVE TO WAIT FOR S/W TO ARRIVE
DURING EVNG HOURS AS INDICATED BY BOTH TIME SCTNS TO GET CONV GOING.

GLD   64/95 11   HLC  70/98 -1
CBK   63/95 11   MCK  63/92 11
TRB   63/97 -1   5C0  59/93 21

BULLER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 12, 5:00 PM MDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before
COZ091-092-KSZ013-014-130005-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
459 PM MDT (559 PM CDT) FRI AUG 12 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING FROM EAST CENTRAL COLORADO INTO
EXTREME NORTHWEST KANSAS...

AT 455 PM MDT (555 PM CDT)...GOODLAND RADAR INDICATED WIDELY
SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG A LINE FROM 10 MILES
SOUTH OF COLBY KANSAS TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF BURLINGTON COLORADO.
THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE 6 MILES SOUTH OF COLBY AND 11 MILES SOUTH OF
BURLINGTON.  MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS NOT YET DETERMINED.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND
SMALL HAIL MAY ACCOMPANY THE STRONGER STORMS.

BARKER
Special weather statement, Aug 12, 6:02 PM MDT, 29 minutes before
COZ090>092-KSZ013-014-027-028-130105-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
600 PM MDT (700 PM CDT) FRI AUG 12 1994

...WIDELY SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF EAST
CENTRAL COLORADO AND NORTHWEST KANSAS...

AT 555 PM MDT (655 PM CDT)...GOODLAND RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF WIDELY
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF COLBY KANSAS TO 15 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BURLINGTON COLORADO.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED 12
MILES SOUTHWEST OF BURLINGTON.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTH AT 15
MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO WESKAN...WINONA...AND CHEYENNE WELLS BY 7 PM MDT.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY
LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN.

A STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER WASHINGTON COUNTY COLORADO WAS
MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND MAY AFFECT SOUTHWESTERN YUMA COUNTY BY
7 PM MDT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION
FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

BARKER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 7:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson44 min
Aug 12, 8:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLincoln28 min
Aug 12, 8:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson60 min
Aug 12, 9:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.