Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 49, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 12, 1996Boulder County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 12, 1996, 8:50 PM MDT for Boulder County, Colorado. It was in force for 25 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
Jul 12, 1996, 8:50 PM MDT (02:50 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1996, 9:15 PM MDT
In force
25 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 02:49 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 12, 9:00 PM MDTThunderstorm WindLouisville, 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, 2.8 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 00:00Z on 1996-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1200 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 00:00Z on 1996-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -30 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
1200 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1461 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
5.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 130252
TORDEN
COC001-013-031-059-130315-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
850 PM MDT FRI JUL 12 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     SOUTHEASTERN BOULDER...NORTHEASTERN JEFFERSON...WEST CENTRAL
     DENVER AND EXTREME WESTERN ADAMS

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     ARVADA...SOUTHEASTERN BOULDER...BROOMFIELD...COMMERCE CITY...
     NORTHERN DENVER...NORTHERN GOLDEN...NORTHERN LAKEWOOD...
     NORTHGLENN...THORNTON...WESTMINSTER...WHEAT RIDGE...EDGEWATER...
     FEDERAL HEIGHTS...LAFAYETTE...LEYDEN...LOUISVILLE...MARSHALL...
     MOUNTAIN VIEW...ROCKY FLATS AND SUPERIOR

AT 838 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER BROOMFIELD...OR ABOUT 16
MILES NORTHWEST OF DENVER.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH 15 MPH.

A TORNADO WAS REPORTED IN THE BROOMFIELD AREA AROUND 120TH 

MANY PUBLIC AND SPOTTER REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED OF 3/4 INCH HAIL 
AND RAINFALL OF AN INCH OR MORE PER HOUR.  GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH 
HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED.

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.

LAT...LON 3973 10490 3972 10525 4002 10525 4004 10490

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 6:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington40 min
Jul 12, 7:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUDouglas, Jefferson43 min
Jul 12, 7:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Elbert50 min
Jul 12, 7:26 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Washington34 min
Jul 12, 7:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUDouglas, Elbert40 min
Jul 12, 7:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Denver21 min
Jul 12, 7:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUDouglas21 min
Jul 12, 8:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUBoulder, Weld47 min
Jul 12, 8:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Douglas40 min
Jul 12, 8:50 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Denver, Jefferson25 min
Jul 12, 9:05 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld25 min
Jul 12, 9:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver, Jefferson44 min
Jul 12, 9:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUDouglas41 min
Jul 12, 9:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld31 min
Jul 12, 10:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUDouglas, Elbert44 min
Jul 12, 10:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld24 min
Jul 12, 10:13 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUJefferson, Park4 hr
Jul 13, 2:30 AM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUJefferson3 hr
Jul 13, 2:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer, Weld35 min
Jul 13, 3:12 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld33 min
Jul 13, 3:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer, Weld35 min
Jul 13, 3:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert, Lincoln40 min
Jul 13, 4:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Washington35 min
Jul 13, 4:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln35 min
Jul 13, 4:11 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan, Washington34 min
Jul 13, 4:24 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUElbert, Lincoln21 min
Jul 13, 4:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Denver45 min
Jul 13, 4:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld45 min
Jul 13, 4:50 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington25 min
Jul 13, 5:00 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe30 min
Jul 13, 5:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Elbert45 min
Jul 13, 5:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington6 hr

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.