Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 25, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1996, 8:59 PM MDT for Morgan County, Colorado. It was in force for 31 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
- Jun 20, 1996, 8:59 PM MDT (02:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 20, 1996, 9:30 PM MDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
County Morgan County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 9:32 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Ft Morgan, 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 66 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
- 1009 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -19 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3283 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 47 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 95 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDEN 210301
TORDEN
COC087-210330-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
859 PM MDT THU JUN 20 1996
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
NORTHEASTERN MORGAN
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
ANTELOPE SPRINGS
AT 859 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES EAST OF ANTELOPE
SPRINGS ...OR ABOUT 28 MILES SOUTHWEST OF STERLING.
DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO WITH THIS STORM.
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
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. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN
THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH
YOUR HANDS.
TO( REPORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
FORECAST OFFICE IN DENVER.
RTG
LAT...LON 4038 10351 4040 10377 4051 10381 4052 10351What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jun 20, 3:38 PM MDT, 5 hours 21 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-210600- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 330 PM MDT THU JUN 20 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: RADAR AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATED A DEVELOPING LINE OF CUMULUS LATE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES. THIS WILL BE A POTENTIAL AREA OF STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THIS EVENING. AT THIS TIME...IT IS STILL UNCERTAIN IF THESE CUMULUS CAN BREAK THROUGH A STABLE LAYER IN THE ATMOSPHERE. IF THEY CAN BREAK THROUGH THIS CAP EARLY THIS EVENING... A FEW STORMS WILL BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS... AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. FARTHER WEST INCLUDING THE FOOTHILLS AND METRO AREAS ALONG I-25... WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING. THESE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE...BUT WILL PRODUCE GUSTY WINDS UP TO 50 MPH...AND LITTLE OR NO RAIN. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED IN AREAS EAST OF INTERSTATE 25 THIS EVENING. BARJENBRUCH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 6:23 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan | 37 min |
| Jun 20, 7:01 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Logan, Morgan, Weld | 29 min |
| Jun 20, 7:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Logan, Weld | 30 min |
| Jun 20, 8:18 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan | 27 min |
| Jun 20, 8:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan, Weld | 30 min |
| Jun 20, 9:09 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Logan, Weld | 21 min |
| Jun 20, 9:25 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan, Weld | 35 min |
| Jun 20, 9:30 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Logan, Washington | 30 min |
| Jun 21, 3:29 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Arapahoe, Washington | 31 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.