Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 117, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 12, 1996, 5:07 PM MDT for Morgan County, Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 38 min. 2 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 12, 1996, 5:07 PM MDT (23:07 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 12, 1996, 5:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Morgan County, CO, Washington County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:07 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 12, 5:42 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Ft Morgan, CO | |
| Jul 12, 5:50 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Brush, 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Fort Carson/Butt, CO (KFCS), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 190 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 320 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -123 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 949 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 10 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 12, 11:43 AM MDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-130600- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1145 AM MDT FRI JUL 12 1996 THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COLORADO COUNTIES ADAMS ARAPAHOE BOULDER CLEAR CREEK DENVER DOUGLAS ELBERT GILPIN GRAND JACKSON JEFFERSON LARIMER LINCOLN LOGAN MORGAN PARK PHILLIPS SEDGWICK SUMMIT WASHINGTON WELD SYNOPSIS: A WEAK COLD FRONT HAS STALLED FROM NEAR DENVER TO GOODLAND THIS MORNING. MOISTURE HAS INCREASED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FRONT...WITH THE MOST MOISTURE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT. THE COMBINATION OF INCREASED MOISTURE AND SLIGHT COOLING ALOFT HAS MADE THE ATMOSPHERE MODERATELY UNSTABLE. THE MOISTURE AXIS AND CONVERGENCE ALONG THE FRONT...FROM NORTH OF DENVER TO LIMON...WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT BY LATE AFTERNOON. THE ACTIVITY WILL SPREAD DURING THE EVENING DUE TO OUTFLOWS FROM THE EARLY STORMS. A RELATIVELY WARM AIR MASS WILL LIMIT THE POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL... BUT THERE IS STILL THE POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. THE WIND FIELD IS MODERATELY FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES... ESPECIALLY ON THE NORTHEAST SIDE OF THE FRONT. HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO A THREAT AS STORMS WILL NOT BE MOVING QUICKLY. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF THE NIGHT ON THE PLAINS DUE TO ABUNDANT MOISTURE AND FAVORABLE LOW LEVEL WINDS. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY AFTER 3 PM ALONG THE FRONT RANGE AND THIS EVENING ON THE PLAINS. GIMMESTAD
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 4:10 PM MDT, 57 minutes before
COZ035-038-122300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 410 PM MDT FRIDAY JULY 12 1996 ...HAIL AND STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN LARIMER COUNTY... A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL LARIMER COUNTY AT 410 PM MDT. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS APPROACHING THE TOWN OF RUSTIC AND WAS MOVING EAST ABOUT 20 MPH WHICH MEANS IT WILL PASS OVER POUDRE PARK AND APPROACH FORT COLLINS BY 5 PMN MDT. 1/2 INCH DIAMETER HAIL WAS REPORTED 9 MILES WEST SOPUTHWEST OF THE TOWN OF RUSTIC. IF THIS THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES YOUR AREA MOVE INDOORS. AVOID BECOMING A VICTIM OF LIGHTNING OR SUFFERING DAMAGE FROM HAIL. HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THE THUNDERSTORM. MOTORISTS IN LARIMER COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS ESPECIALLY IN LOW LYING AREAS. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EASTERN COLORADO UNTIL 8 PM MDT. END...GCF...WSFO DENVER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 12, 12:41 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Douglas | 19 min |
| Jul 12, 2:31 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert | 14 min |
| Jul 12, 2:54 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Elbert | 36 min |
| Jul 12, 3:53 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Weld | 52 min |
| Jul 12, 4:22 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Morgan, Weld | 38 min |
| Jul 12, 5:47 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan, Washington | 43 min |
| Jul 12, 5:57 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Larimer, Weld | 48 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1996Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.