Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 85, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 31, 1996, 10:54 PM MDT for Lincoln County, Colorado. It was in force for 51 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 31, 1996, 10:54 PM MDT (04:54 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 31, 1996, 11:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 51 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 04:55 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, 11:23 PM MDT | Hail 1 | Hugo, 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, 4.9 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
- 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 010456
TORDEN
COC073-010545-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1054 PM MDT WED JUL 31 1996
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
NORTHERN LINCOLN
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
BOYERO AND HUGO
AT 1050 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A TORNADO NEAR HUGO...OR ABOUT 13 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF LIMON.
THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 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
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
BARJENBRUCH
LAT...LON 3880 10317 3881 10361 3917 10370 3922 10333What 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 57 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, 8:45 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, 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, 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.