Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 12, 1995Washington County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 12, 1995, 8:12 PM MDT for Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 18 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 12, 1995, 8:12 PM MDT (02:12 UTC)
Expired: May 12, 1995, 8:30 PM MDT
In force: 18 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Whole counties

County Washington County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:11 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 11 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 299 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1979 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 93 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 130214
TORDEN
COC121-130230-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
812 PM MDT FRI MAY 12 1995

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
     NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     OTIS

AT 812 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF OTIS
...OR ABOUT 35 MILES SOUTH OF STERLING.

THE PUBLIC REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD NEAR PLATNER.

THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST 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.

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

GARD...WSFO DENVER
LAT...LON 4004 10280 4011 10300 4024 10301 4034 10280

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 12, 6:12 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	48 min
May 12, 6:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Weld	41 min
May 12, 6:43 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Arapahoe, Douglas	32 min
May 12, 7:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Morgan, Washington	45 min
May 12, 7:47 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Washington	43 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1995 Every tornado warning in 1995 Tornadoes in 1995

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.