Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 25, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1996, 9:35 PM MDT for Phillips County, Colorado. It was in force for 40 min. 1 report 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
- May 23, 1996, 9:35 PM MDT (03:35 UTC)
- Expired
- May 23, 1996, 10:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
County Phillips County, CO
The radar
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 148 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 10:00 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Holyoke, 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
Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 109 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
- 519 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -36 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 890 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 82 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 326 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.6
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, May 23, 4:25 PM MDT, 5 hours 10 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-067-071-072-240300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 425 PM MDT THU MAY 23 1996 ...TORNADO WATCH NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR TELLER AND EL PASO COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO... A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF NORTHEAST COLORADO UNTIL 9 PM MDT. THE WATCH INCLUDES ELBERT...LINCOLN..EASTERN LARIMER..ADAMS.. ARAPAHOE..BOULDER..DENVER..WESTERN WASHINGTON AND WELD COUNTIES... INCLUDING THE DENVER METRO AREA. LARGE DAMAGING HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS OF GREATER THAN 60 MPH AND TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS UNTIL 9 PM. NO LONGER UNDER THE TORNADO WATCH...IS THE EAST CENTRAL COLORADO COUNTIES OF TELLER AN~D EL PASO...INCLUDING COLORADO SPRINGS. THE ATMOSPHERE HAS DRIER OUT SIGNIFICANTLY WITHIN THE PAST COUPLE OF HOURS SOUTH OF THE MONUMENT RIDGE AND THEREFORE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS NOT ANTICIPATED. BAKER
Special weather statement, May 23, 4:55 PM MDT, 4 hours 40 minutes before
COZ041-045>046-232345-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
455 PM MDT THU MAY 23 1996
...THUNDERSTORMS FORMING RAPIDLY OVER NORTH CENTRAL ELBERT COUNTY...
AT 455 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
A THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEER TRAIL...OR ABOUT 29 MILES
NORTHWEST OF LIMON.
DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED POSSIBLE ROTATION AND HAIL WITH THIS STORM.
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND IS EXPECTED TO MOVE
NORTHEAST ACROSS EASTERN ARAPAHOE COUNTY BETWEEN 5 AND 5:45 PM.
PEOPLE IN BYERS AND DEER TRAIL SHOULD PREPARE TO MOVE QUICKLY TO A PLACE
OF SAFETY IF SEVERE WEATHER IS SPOTTED.
THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL DAMAGING HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND A
POSSIBLE TORNADO.
A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL...NORTHEASTERN AND
EAST CENTRAL COLORADO UNTIL 900 PM MDT.
BAKER
LAT...LON 3939 10401 3939 10429 3964 10431 3998 10380
3968 10372 3950 10391The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 6:20 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 40 min |
| May 23, 8:13 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 32 min |
| May 23, 9:09 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan | 36 min |
| May 23, 9:54 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Logan | 51 min |
| May 23, 10:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Sedgwick | 45 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.