Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 31, 1996Morgan County, Washington County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1996, 5:39 PM MDT for Morgan County, Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 66 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
May 31, 1996, 5:39 PM MDT (23:39 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1996, 6:45 PM MDT
In force
66 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 23:47 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 31, 6:05 PM MDTHail 0.75Adena, CO
May 31, 6:31 PM MDTHail 0.75Woodrow, 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 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 36 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 1996-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 26 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 1996-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-218 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1241 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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, May 31, 12:31 PM MDT, 5 hours 8 minutes before
COZ038>050-311915-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1230 PM MDT FRI MAY 31 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS PORTIONS OF ELBERT COUNTY
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...

AT 1225 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED DEVELOPING
THUNDERSTORMS FROM SOUTHWEST OF ELBERT TO SOUTH OF MATHESON.  THESE
STORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

KLEYLA
Special weather statement, May 31, 1:08 PM MDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
COZ038>050-312000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
105 PM MDT FRI MAY 31 1996

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER ELBERT AND
SOUTHWESTERN LINCOLN COUNTIES...

AT 100 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM SOUTHEAST OF CASTLE ROCK TO KIOWA
EXTENDING SOUTHEAST TO WEST OF KARVAL.  THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF
HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

KLEYLA
Special weather statement, May 31, 1:52 PM MDT, 3 hours 47 minutes before
COZ038>050-312030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
150 PM MDT FRI MAY 31 1996

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER ELBERT AND WESTERN LINCOLN
COUNTIES...

AT 145 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM SOUTH OF AGATE TO 10 MILES
WEST OF HUGO TO 15 MILES WEST OF KARVAL.  THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

KLEYLA
Special weather statement, May 31, 3:21 PM MDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 31, 4:23 PM MDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 31, 5:34 PM MDT, 5 minutes before
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  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 6:15 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington30 min
May 30, 6:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln64 min
May 30, 6:45 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington45 min
May 30, 7:15 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULincoln30 min
May 30, 7:31 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington29 min
May 30, 7:46 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULincoln29 min
May 30, 7:52 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington38 min
May 30, 7:52 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUElbert38 min
May 30, 8:15 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULincoln30 min
May 30, 8:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert, Lincoln68 min
May 30, 8:50 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULincoln40 min
May 30, 9:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington48 min
May 30, 9:24 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington36 min
May 30, 9:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln41 min
May 31, 2:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln43 min
May 31, 5:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld60 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.