Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 73, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 30, 1996, 4:16 PM MDT for Lincoln County, Colorado. It was in force for 29 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 30, 1996, 4:16 PM MDT (22:16 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 30, 1996, 4:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lincoln County, CO
The radar
The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 4:17 PM MDT | Tornado F1 | Genoa, 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, 10.3 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
- 11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -159 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1187 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 66 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 302218
TORDEN
COC073-302245-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
416 PM MDT TUE JUL 30 1996
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
NORTHEASTERN LINCOLN
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
ARRIBA...BOYERO...GENOA AND HUGO
AT 410 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 13 MILES NORTH OF ARRIBA...OR
ABOUT 24 MILES NORTHEAST OF LIMON. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH
40 MPH.
ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INTENSIFYING 15 MILES SOUTH OF
ARRIBA. THIS STORM WAS SLOWLY MOVING SOUTH.
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 3890 10319 3891 10353 3954 10352 3953 10319What 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 30, 11:34 AM MDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-300600- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO 1140 AM MDT MON JULY 30 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: ABUNDANT MOISTURE WILL BE AVAILABLE TODAY...ALONG WITH SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS NEAR THE GROUND...TURNING TO NORTHWESTERLY ALOFT WHICH WILL SLOWLY INCREASE LATER TODAY. ABUNDANT SUNSHINE WILL ALLOW FOR THE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO BREW FIRST OVER THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND DEVELOP TO THE URBAN CORRIDOR EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. EASTERN COLORADO HAS BEEN UNDER A BLANKET OF CLOUDS EARLY THIS MORNING...SO IT WILL BE MORE STABLE...THUNDERSTORMS THERE WILL MOST LIKELY WAIT UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON TO DEVELOP...BUT WILL CONTINUE LATE INTO THE EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT FOR TODAY WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...AS THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD. THERE MAY BE A FEW WEAK TORNADOES WITH STORMS IN THE NORTHEASXT DUE TO THE WEAK WINDS TURNING COUNTER CLOCKWISE WITH HEIGHT. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED AFTER 2PM. RTG
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 1:13 PM MDT, 3 hours 3 minutes before
COZ049-292000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 112PM MDT TUE JUL 30 1996 ...VERY HEAVY RAIN IN NORTHWEST WASHINGTON COUNTY... AT 1PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A VERY SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS SOUTHEAST OF PREWITT RESERVOIR THAT WAS MOVING VERY SLOWLY TO THE SOUTH. RAINFALL RATES WITH THIS STORM HAVE BEEN 1.5 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR. THE STORM WAS ALSO LIKELY PRODUCING SMALL HAIL. RESIDENTS OF NORTHWESTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY BETWEN AKRON AND THE PREWITT RESERVOIR WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE VERY HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 2PM. SMALL STREAMS AND DITCHES WILL REACH BANKFUL. DIRT ROADS WILL BECOME TREACHEROUS. ANYONE TRAVELLING IN NORTHWEST WASHINGTON COUNTY SHOULD CONSIDER DELAYING TRAVEL UNTIL LATER IN THE AFTERNOON. RTG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 2:29 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 31 min |
| Jul 30, 2:59 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 41 min |
| Jul 30, 3:17 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 43 min |
| Jul 30, 3:43 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Lincoln, Washington | 32 min |
| Jul 30, 4:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 30 min |
| Jul 30, 5:12 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 38 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.