Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 87, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 1, 1996, 5:07 PM MDT for Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 38 min. 5 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
- Aug 1, 1996, 5:07 PM MDT (23:07 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 1, 1996, 5:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
County Washington County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 1, 5:18 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Cope, CO | |
| Aug 1, 5:29 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Cope, CO | |
| Aug 1, 5:29 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Cope, CO | |
| Aug 1, 5:30 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Cope, CO | |
| Aug 1, 5:55 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Cope, 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, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 11 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
- 292 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -247 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2092 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 72 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 103 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDEN 012308
TORDEN
COC121-012345-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
507 PM MDT THU AUG 01 1996
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO
SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
COPE
AT 507 PM MDT WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 18 MILES NORTH OF COPE ...
OR ABOUT 53 MILES SOUTH OF STERLING.
THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH.
PEOPLE IN THE TOWN OF COPE SHOULD GO TO A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM IMMEDIATELY!
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.
TO RE|PORT SEVERE WEATHER HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
FORECAST OFFICE IN DENVER.
GIMMESTAD
LAT...LON 3959 10281 3959 10299 3995 10298 4000 10280What 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, Aug 1, 11:42 AM MDT, 5 hours 25 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-020600- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO 1145 AM MDT THU AUG 1 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: SEVERAL FACTORS FOR SEVERE WEATHER IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO ARE IN PLACE AGAIN TODAY. LIKE YESTERDAY...THERE IS PLENTIFUL MOISTURE OVER THE PLAINS...WITH SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR NEAR THE FOOTHILLS. UPSLOPE WINDS WILL BE DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON...BUT WILL BE WEAKER THAN YESTERDAY. WARM AIR ALOFT WILL DELAY THE ONSET OF STORMS UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON AND LIMIT THEIR NUMBER...BUT WIDELY SCATTERED STORMS THAT DO DEVELOP FROM GREELEY AND BYERS EAST WILL BE STRONG TO SEVERE. THE WIN*D PROFILE IS NOT AS FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES TODAY...BUT THERE IS ENOUGH SHEAR THAT AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED FROM LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH THE EVENING...MAINLY FROM GREELEY AND LIMON EAST. GIMMESTAD
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, 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, 5:26 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.