Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 101, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 29, 1996Weld County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 29, 1996, 6:25 PM MDT for Weld County, Colorado. It was in force for 50 min. 5 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
Aug 29, 1996, 6:25 PM MDT (00:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1996, 7:15 PM MDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Weld County, CO

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:27 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
Aug 29, 6:27 PM MDTHail 0.75Windsor, CO
Aug 29, 6:37 PM MDTHail 1Greeley, CO
Aug 29, 6:43 PM MDTHail 0.75Greeley, CO
Aug 29, 6:48 PM MDTHail 1.75Milliken, CO
Aug 29, 6:48 PM MDTHail 0.75Evans, 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, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 125 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 1996-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 702 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 1996-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 29 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
702 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2013 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 300029
TORDEN
COC123-300115-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
625 PM MDT THU AUG 29 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     WESTERN AND CENTRAL WELD COUNTY

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     GREELEY...AULT...BARNESVILLE...BRIGGSDALE...EATON...EVANS...
     GALETON...GARDEN CITY...GILCREST...GILL...GROVER...MILLIKEN...
     JOHNSTOWN...KERSEY...LA SALLE...LUCERNE...MILTON RESERVOIR...
     PECKHAM...PIERCE...PLATTEVILLE...PURCELL...RIVERSIDE
     RESERVOIR...SEVERANCE AND WINDSOR

AT 622 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THREE 
POSSIBLE TORNADOES IN WELD COUNTY.   ONE WAS LOCATED 2 MILES WEST OF 
GREELEY...A SECOND WAS LOCATED JUST WEST OF GALETON...AND A THIRD 
WAS LOCATED JUST WEST OF GROVER.

THESE TORNADOES WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH AND PERSONS IN 
THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!!!

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IFj NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4031 10425 4018 10491 4056 10488 4092 10440
          4098 10416

KLEYLA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 29, 6:05 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld25 min
Aug 29, 7:12 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld48 min
Aug 29, 7:39 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams36 min
Aug 29, 7:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan50 min
Aug 29, 8:00 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.