Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 22, 1996Boulder County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 22, 1996, 3:10 PM MDT for Boulder County, Colorado. It was in force for 35 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
Jun 22, 1996, 3:10 PM MDT (21:10 UTC)
Expired
Jun 22, 1996, 3:45 PM MDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Boulder County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:18 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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 183 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 1996-06-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 240 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1996-06-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
240 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-239 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1059 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 222112
TORDEN
COC001-013-123-222145-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
310 PM MDT SAT JUN 22 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
     EXTREME NORTHWESTERN ADAMS...SOUTHEASTERN BOULDER AND
     EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN WELD

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     BROOMFIELD...DACONO...ERIE...LAFAYETTE...LOUISVILLE...
     NORTHGLENN...THORNTON AND WESTMINSTER

AT 310 PM MDT HAM RADIO SPOTTERS REPORTED A BRIEF TORNADO NEAR
INTERSTATE  25 AND HIGHWAY 7 EAST OF LAFAYETTE ...OR ABOUT 19 MILES
NORTH OF DENVER.

THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE A STRONGER TORNADO...ALONG WITH
LARGE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 75 MPH.

THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 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.

GIMMESTAD

LAT...LON 3991 10487 3991 10497 3992 10513 4009 10514
          4010 10506 4009 10487

What 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 22, 11:37 AM MDT, 3 hours 33 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-220600-

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1130 AM MDT SAT JUN 22 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:  ANOTHER STORMY AFTERNOON AND EVENING IS EXPECTED ACROSS
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO.  SKIES WILL PARTIALLY CLEAR
DURING THE AFTERNOON...ALLOWING ENOUGH SUNSHINE FOR TEMPERATURES TO
WARM INTO THE 80S.  DEWPOINTS WILL REMAIN IN THE UPPER 40S ALONG THE
FRONT RANGE AND MID TO UPPER 50S ON THE PLAINS...SO THE ATMOSPHERE
WILL BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL START TO MOVE OFF THE MOUNTAINS BY 2 PM.  THE
BEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH MID AFTERNOON WILL BE FROM
SOUTHEAST OF DENVER NORTH TO NEAR CHEYENNE WHERE THERE WILL BE
BETTER MOISTURE AND CONVERGING LOW LEVEL WINDS.  THE STORMS WILL
SPREAD EAST SLOWLY...WITH THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT REACHING THE
AREA EAST OF FORT MORGAN AFTER 5 PM.

LARGE HAIL IS THE MAIN THREAT NEAR THE MOUNTAINS...ALTHOUGH STORMS
COULD DROP UP TO HALF AN INCH OF RAIN IN A HALF HOUR CAUSING MINOR
FLOODING.  AS THE STORMS DEVELOP TO THE EAST THERE WILL BE A BETTER
THREAT OF BOTH LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY NEAR THE MOUNTAINS BY 3 PM AND ON THE
PLAINS BY EARLY EVENING.

GIMMESTAD
Special weather statement, Jun 22, 11:38 AM MDT, 3 hours 32 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-230600-

...CORRECTED COMMS HEADER...

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1130 AM MDT SAT JUN 22 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:  ANOTHER STORMY AFTERNOON AND EVENING IS EXPECTED ACROSS
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO.  SKIES WILL PARTIALLY CLEAR
DURING THE AFTERNOON...ALLOWING ENOUGH SUNSHINE FOR TEMPERATURES TO
WARM INTO THE 80S.  DEWPOINTS WILL REMAIN IN THE UPPER 40S ALONG THE
FRONT RANGE AND MID TO UPPER 50S ON THE PLAINS...SO THE ATMOSPHERE
WILL BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL START TO MOVE OFF THE MOUNTAINS BY 2 PM.  THE
BEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH MID AFTERNOON WILL BE FROM
SOUTHEAST OF DENVER NORTH TO NEAR CHEYENNE WHERE THERE WILL BE
BETTER MOISTURE AND CONVERGING LOW LEVEL WINDS.  THE STORMS WILL
SPREAD EAST SLOWLY...WITH THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT REACHING THE
AREA EAST OF FORT MORGAN AFTER 5 PM.

LARGE HAIL IS THE MAIN THREAT NEAR THE MOUNTAINS...ALTHOUGH STORMS
COULD DROP UP TO HALF AN INCH OF RAIN IN A HALF HOUR CAUSING MINOR
FLOODING.  AS THE STORMS DEVELOP TO THE EAST THERE WILL BE A BETTER
THREAT OF BOTH LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY NEAR THE MOUNTAINS BY 3 PM AND ON THE
PLAINS BY EARLY EVENING.

GIMMESTAD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 22, 2:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUClear Creek, Gilpin, Jefferson47 min
Jun 22, 2:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUBoulder47 min
Jun 22, 3:10 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Weld35 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.