Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 87, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 1, 1996Washington County, Colorado

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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 1, 5:18 PM MDTHail 1.75Cope, CO
Aug 1, 5:29 PM MDTHail 1.75Cope, CO
Aug 1, 5:29 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 52Cope, CO
Aug 1, 5:30 PM MDTTornado F0Cope, CO
Aug 1, 5:55 PM MDTHail 1.75Cope, 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1996-08-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 292 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1996-08-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 10280

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, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 31, 6:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld4 hr
Jul 31, 6:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld51 min
Jul 31, 6:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert, Lincoln41 min
Jul 31, 7:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld47 min
Jul 31, 7:45 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld30 min
Jul 31, 7:51 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUPhillips24 min
Jul 31, 7:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Morgan48 min
Jul 31, 8:13 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld32 min
Jul 31, 8:45 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Weld30 min
Jul 31, 8:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Washington55 min
Jul 31, 9:16 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe44 min
Jul 31, 9:58 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUArapahoe, Elbert47 min
Jul 31, 10:18 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULincoln42 min
Jul 31, 10:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld35 min
Jul 31, 10:54 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULincoln51 min
Jul 31, 11:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln31 min
Aug 1, 2:22 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan9 hr
Aug 1, 2:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan, Phillips49 min
Aug 1, 3:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington28 min
Aug 1, 4:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington47 min
Aug 1, 4:22 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln53 min
Aug 1, 4:39 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington21 min
Aug 1, 5:26 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington34 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.