Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 178, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 25, 1996Washington County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 25, 1996, 5:30 PM MDT for Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 45 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 25, 1996, 5:30 PM MDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 25, 1996, 6:15 PM MDT
In force
45 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 23:29 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 12:00Z, 11.5 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 12:00Z on 1996-07-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 845 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 1996-07-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 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
845 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-213 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1414 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 25, 3:44 PM MDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before
COZ036-252230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
343 PM MDT THU JUL 25 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHEAST PARK AND SOUTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTIES...

AT 340 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN
AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS 3 MILES EAST OF PINE...OR ABOUT 27 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF DENVER.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT
15 MILES PER HOUR.

THE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AS WELL AS
SMALL HAIL.  RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO 1/2 INCH IN AN HOUR'S TIME
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.  LOCALIZED FLOODING IS A POSSIBILITY
WITH THESE STORMS.

THE AREAS MOST VULNERABLE TO FLOODING IS THE BURNED OUT AREAS AROUND
BUFFALO CREEK.

PERSONS IN OR NEAR BUFFALO CREEK...BAILEY AND PINE SHOULD BE ON THE
LOOKOUT FOR THESE STORMS AND MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLOODING
OCCURS.  NEVER DRIVE...OR WALK...THROUGN FLOODED AREAS.

LESZCYNSKI
Special weather statement, Jul 25, 3:55 PM MDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
COZ041-046-252230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
355 PM MDT THU JUL 25 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN ELBERT COUNTY...

AT 352 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHCENTRAL ELBERT COUNTY...OR ABOUT 26 MILES
WEST OF LIMON.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES PER HOUR.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF
SAFETY IF BAD WEAT&HER APPROACHES.

DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS
WILL OCCUR WITH THIS STORM.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF EASTERN COLORADO UNTIL
9PM THIS EVENING.

HOLZINGER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 9:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Douglas42 min
Jul 24, 11:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Elbert33 min
Jul 24, 11:46 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe44 min
Jul 25, 4:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington73 min
Jul 25, 4:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert71 min
Jul 25, 4:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer64 min
Jul 25, 4:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer59 min
Jul 25, 4:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln, Washington40 min
Jul 25, 5:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUSedgwick38 min
Jul 25, 5:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan, Sedgwick21 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.