Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 81, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 31, 1996, 8:45 PM MDT for Adams County, Weld County, Colorado. It was in force for 30 min. 2 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 31, 1996, 8:45 PM MDT (02:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 31, 1996, 9:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Adams County, CO, Weld County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:46 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 31, 8:52 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Roggen, CO | |
| Jul 31, 9:00 PM MDT | Tornado F2 | Gill, 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 104 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
- 1235 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -38 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2359 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 111 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 264 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 10.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KDEN 010246 TORDEN COC001-123-010315- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 845 PM MDT WED JUL 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHEAST COLORADO ...NORTH CENTRAL ADAMS COUNTY...SOUTHEASTERN WELD COUNTY AT 844 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR ROGGEN...OR ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GREELEY. NUMEROUS TORNADOES HAVE BEEN SIGHTED WITH THIS STORM. IT WAS MOVING SOUTH/SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. BARJENBRUCH &
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, Jul 31, 3:20 PM MDT, 5 hours 25 minutes before
COZ046-047-312130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 318 PM MDT WED JUL 31 1996 ...LARGE HAIL IN HUGO... AT 315PM HAIL TO JUST UNDER GOLFBALL HAIL WAS REPORTED IN HUGO. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT IN EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY INCLUDING HUGO UNTIL 330 PM. THE STORM WAS LOCATED JUST EAST OF HUGO AND SLOWLY DRIFTING SOUTH. RESIDENTS OF THE AREA SHOULD TAKE COVER FROM THIS STORM. RTG &&
Special weather statement, Jul 31, 4:57 PM MDT, 3 hours 48 minutes before
COZ038>050-310400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 455 PM MDT WED JUL 31 1996 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALMOST ALL OF EASTERN COLORADO UNTIIL 9 PM MDT... THE WATCH COVERS AREAS EAST OF INTERSTATE 25...INCLUDING THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE DENVER METRO AREA...GREELEY...FORT MORGAN...STERLING...AKRON...JULESBURG...LIMON...AND CASTLE ROCK. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED ACROSS NORTHEAST COLORADO EARLY THIS EVENING. SEVERE STORMS WITH LARGE HAIL WERE OCCURRING IN LINCOLN COUNTY. THESE SEVERE STORMS MAY BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AS THE EVENING PROGRESSES. A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES. d IF A TORNADO IS SIGHTED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. GO TO YOUR BASEMENT AND GET UNDER A STURDY PIECE OF FURNITURE. BARJENBRUCH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 31, 6:39 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 4 hr |
| Jul 31, 6:39 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 51 min |
| Jul 31, 6:49 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Elbert, Lincoln | 41 min |
| Jul 31, 7:28 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 47 min |
| Jul 31, 7:45 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Weld | 30 min |
| Jul 31, 7:51 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Phillips | 24 min |
| Jul 31, 7:57 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Morgan | 48 min |
| Jul 31, 8:13 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Weld | 32 min |
| Jul 31, 8:50 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan, Washington | 55 min |
| Jul 31, 9:16 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Adams, Arapahoe | 44 min |
| Jul 31, 9:58 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Arapahoe, Elbert | 47 min |
| Jul 31, 10:18 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 42 min |
| Jul 31, 10:25 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Weld | 35 min |
| Jul 31, 10:54 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 51 min |
| Jul 31, 11:44 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 31 min |
| Aug 1, 2:22 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Logan | 9 hr |
| Aug 1, 2:56 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Logan, Phillips | 49 min |
| Aug 1, 3:47 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 28 min |
| Aug 1, 4:13 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 47 min |
| Aug 1, 4:22 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 53 min |
| Aug 1, 4:39 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 21 min |
| Aug 1, 5:07 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 38 min |
| Aug 1, 5:26 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 34 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.