Alert archive / Colorado / Flash Flood Warnings in 1996

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 31, 1996Washington County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this flash flood warning at Jul 31, 1996, 12:40 AM MDT for Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 110 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 31, 1996, 12:40 AM MDT (06:40 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1996, 2:30 AM MDT
In force
110 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 06:40 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, 6.7 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 1996-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 794 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 00:00Z on 1996-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 1 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
794 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2039 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 310644
FFWDEN
COC121-310830-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1240 AM MDT WED JUL 31 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 AM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     LAST CHANCE AND WOODLIN SCHOOL

AT 1240 AM MDT...THE WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED 
NEARLY 2 FEET OF WATER COVERING HIGHWAY 71 NEAR LAST CHANCE.  
THIS WATER NEARLY SWEPT A SEMI-TRUCK OFF THE ROAD.   

DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED NEARLY 2 INCHES OF RAIN IN THE LAST
HOUR.  ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS LIKELY EARLY THIS MORNING...ONLY ADDING
TO THE FLOODING PROBLEMS.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING. IF YOU ARE 
IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY. RESIDENTS 
LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE PRECAUTIONS. 
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED AREAS BY FOOT OR BY AUTOMOBILE. IF 
YOUR VEHICLE STALLS, ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND.

BARJENBRUCH

LAT...LON 3994 10349 3967 10341 3961 10361 3994 10370

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 30, 7:10 PM MDT, 5 hours 30 minutes before
COZ042>050-310300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
708 PM MDT TUE JUL 30 1996

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EASTERN COLORADO UNTIL
9 PM MDT...

THE TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES AREAS EAST OF A LINE FROM CHEYENNE TO
JUST EAST OF DENVER TO ABOUT 15 MILES EAST OF COLORADO SPRINGS.

AT 7 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
WEAKENING THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEASTERN COLORADO.  HOWEVER...AN
INTENSE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHEAST WYOMING WAS MOVING QUICKLY SOUTHWARD
AND SHOULD BE APPROACHING NORTHEAST WELD AND NORTHWEST LOGAN COUNTIES BY
8 PM.  THIS STORM HAS ALREADY PRODUCED 65 MPH WINDS AND 1/2 DIAMETER
HAIL.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE IN NORTHEAST COLORADO THIS
EVENING.  IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...MOVE INDOORS
IMMEDIATELY.

BARJENBRUCH
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 8:10 PM MDT, 4 hours 30 minutes before
COZ042>050-310300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
808 PM MDT TUE JUL 30 1996

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EASTERN COLORADO UNTIL
9 PM MDT...

THE TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES AREAS EAST OF A LINE FROM CHEYENNE TO
JUST EAST OF DENVER TO ABOUT 15 MILES EAST OF COLORADO SPRINGS.

AT 8 PM MDT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE APPROACHING THE COLORADO BORDER.
THE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO NORTHEASTERN WELD AND NORTHWESTERN LOGAN
COUNTIES BY 820 PM.  EXPECT STRONG GUSTY WINDS UP TO 60 MPH AND 1 INCH
DIAMETER HAIL WITH THE STORMS.

TORNADOES ARE STILL POSSIBLE IN NORTHEAST COLORADO THIS EVENING.  IF A
TORNADO IS SPOTTED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED...MOVE IMMEDIATELY TO THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

BARJENBRUCH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 8:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan, Weld44 min
Jul 30, 8:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld47 min
Jul 30, 9:12 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld48 min
Jul 30, 9:41 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan49 min
Jul 30, 10:15 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan45 min
Jul 30, 10:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld55 min
Jul 30, 10:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington40 min
Jul 30, 10:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Washington31 min
Jul 30, 11:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan55 min
Jul 30, 11:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington47 min
Jul 30, 11:59 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington31 min
Jul 31, 12:55 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUAdams50 min
Jul 31, 12:55 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams50 min
Jul 31, 1:09 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln36 min
Jul 31, 2:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln32 min
Jul 31, 3:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln44 min
Jul 31, 4:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln38 min
Jul 31, 4:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln43 min
Jul 31, 5:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld47 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Colorado, 1996Every flash flood warning in 1996

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.