Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 9, 1996Adams County, Denver County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 9, 1996, 3:25 PM MDT for Adams County, Denver County, Colorado. It was in force for 35 min. 3 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
Jul 9, 1996, 3:25 PM MDT (21:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1996, 4:00 PM MDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Adams County, CO, Denver County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 6 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:29 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
Jul 9, 3:25 PM MDTTornado F0Denver Intl Airport, CO
Jul 9, 3:35 PM MDTTornado F0Denver Intl Airport, CO
Jul 9, 3:35 PM MDTTornado F0Denver Intl Airport, 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 1996-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 287 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 1996-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
287 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
761 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 092123
TORDEN
COC001-031-092200-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
325 PM MDT TUE JUL 09 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
     WESTERN CENTRAL ADAMS AND NORTHEASTERN DENVER

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     DENVER INTL AIRPORT...MANILA VILLAGE AND WATKINS

AT 325 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND HAM RADIO SPOTTERS
INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR AND EAST
OF THE DENVER INTL AIRPORT...OR ABOUT 17 MILES NORTHEAST OF DENVER.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH. 

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.

LAT...LON 3975 10448 3976 10472 3992 10473 3994 10456

IMY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 2:18 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld27 min
Jul 9, 2:40 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUElbert35 min
Jul 9, 2:46 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld29 min
Jul 9, 2:53 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Denver37 min
Jul 9, 3:12 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUElbert33 min
Jul 9, 3:46 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUElbert29 min
Jul 9, 3:56 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe34 min
Jul 9, 4:00 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe30 min
Jul 9, 4:16 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUElbert29 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.