Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 83, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 31, 1996, 9:58 PM MDT for Arapahoe County, Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 47 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 31, 1996, 9:58 PM MDT (03:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 31, 1996, 10:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Arapahoe County, CO, Elbert County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:57 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, 10:05 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Byers, CO | |
| Jul 31, 10:09 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Deer Trail, CO | |
| Jul 31, 10:30 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Elbert, 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, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 97 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 010401
TORDEN
COC005-039-010445-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
958 PM MDT WED JUL 31 1996
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
EASTERN ARAPAHOE
IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
NORTHEASTERN ELBERT
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
AGATE AND JOLLY RANCH
AT 957 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF JOLLY RANCH...OR
ABOUT 27 MILES NORTH OF LIMON.
SKYWARN SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED SEVERAL TORNADOES WITH THIS STORM IN
THE BYERS AREA.
THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH/SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
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
INTE(RIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
BARJENBRUCH
LAT...LON 3930 10373 3931 10393 3960 10405 3972 10372What 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, 4:57 PM MDT, 5 hours 1 minute 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, 8:45 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Adams, Weld | 30 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, 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.