Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 60, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 20, 1996, 7:57 PM MDT for Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 33 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
- Jul 20, 1996, 7:57 PM MDT (01:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1996, 8:30 PM MDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
County Elbert County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:01 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 101 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
- 7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -32 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3778 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -15 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 26 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDEN 210157
TORDEN
COC039-210230-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
757 PM MDT SAT JUL 20 1996
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
SOUTHEASTERN ELBERT
AT 755 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER SOUTHEASTERN
ELBERT COUNTY...OR ABOUT 17 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIMON.
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES PER HOUR.
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
SUBS`TANTIAL 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 3904 10373 3893 10386 3900 10395 3917 10389What 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, Jul 20, 6:50 PM MDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
COZ046-047-210115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 635 PM MDT SAT JUL 20 1996 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN CENTRAL LINCOLN COUNTY... AT 640 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED ISOLATED...BUT STRONG...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN CENTRAL LINCOLN COUNTY. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED 21 MILES SOUTH OF HUGO...NEAR THE COUNTY LINE...ANOTHER JUST TO THE NORTH OF PUNKIN CENTER OR ABOUT 19 MILES SOUTH OF LIMON AND YET ANOTHER 12 MILES EAST OF HUGO OR 24 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LIMON THESE STORMS WERE NEARLY STATIONARY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL SMALL HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS...ALONG WITH SOME MINOR FLOODING. PERSONS IN CENTRAL LINCOLN COUNTY SHOULD REMAIN IN A PLACE OF SAFETY UNTIL THE SEVERE WEATHER PASSES. IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...GO INSIDE A STURDY SHELTER AWAY FROM CREEK BEDS AND OTHER B FLOOD-PRONE AREAS. FMC
The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 7:19 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 26 min |
| Jul 20, 7:32 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Elbert, Lincoln | 28 min |
| Jul 20, 8:00 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 45 min |
| Jul 20, 8:21 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Elbert | 24 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.