Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 93, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 9, 1996Adams County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 9, 1996, 3:53 PM MDT for Adams County, Colorado. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 9, 1996, 3:53 PM MDT (21:53 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 1996, 4:30 PM MDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Adams County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:57 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 95 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 1996-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2019 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 092156 COR
TORDEN
COC001-092230-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRRECTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
353 PM MDT FRI AUG 9 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     CENTRAL ADAMS

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     BENNETT AND MANILA VILLAGE

AT 350 PM MDT...A WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED A SMALL TORNADO JUST 
SOUTHEAST OF DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.  ANOTHER TORNADO WAS 
REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC AT 352 PM 3 MILES EAST OF FRONT RANGE 
AIRPORT...OR ABOUT 20 MILES EAST OF DENVER.  

THESE TORNADOES WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 20 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
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

BARJENBRUCH

LAT...LON 3990 10414 3974 10422 3974 10454 3999 10450

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 9, 11:14 AM MDT, 4 hours 39 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-100600-

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1010 AM MDT FRI AUG 9 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:  PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL REMAIN ACROSS NORTHEAST
COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON.  AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL ALSO MOVE
ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING.  THIS WILL HELP TO SPARK THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ACROSS
THE FOOTHILLS BY THE NOON HOUR...AND THEN ACROSS THE PLAINS AFTER
2 PM.

A SURFACE BOUNDARY FROM THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE DENVER METRO
AREA NORTHWARD TO CHEYENNE MAY HELP TO FOCUS THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT.  PLENTY OF MOISTURE TO THE EAST OF THAT BOUNDARY WILL
PROVIDE ENOUGH ENERGY FOR A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.  THE SEVERE
STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE A BRIEF PERIOD OF LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS.  LONG-LIVED SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT LIKELY TODAY GIVENR
ONLY A WEAK WIND SHEAR PROFILE IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY EAST
OF A LINE FROM CHEYENNE TO DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

BARJENBRUCH
Special weather statement, Aug 9, 2:40 PM MDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-100600-

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
240 PM MDT FRI AUG 9 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:  A WELL DEVELOPED SURFACE BOUNDARY FROM KIOWA TO JUST EAST
OF DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND THEN TO JUST SOUTHEAST OF
CHEYENNE WILL PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT BETWEEN
3 AND 4 PM.  A FEW OF THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE
WITH A BRIEF PERIOD OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  AN ISOLATED
WEAK TORNADO IS ALSO POSSIBLE WHERE OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES INTERACT WITH
THE THUNDERSTORMS.

THE RISK OF SEVERE STORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING IN
AREAS FARTHER EAST INCLUDING FORT MORGAN...LIMON...STERLING...AND
AKRON.  AT THIS TIME...NO SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED IN THE FORT
COLLINS TO DENVER CORRIDOR.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE SURFACE BOUNDARY FROM
CHEYENNE TO DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KIOWA.

BARJENBRUCH

The office that day

Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 4:07 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUArapahoe23 min
Aug 9, 4:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld19 min
Aug 9, 4:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe31 min
Aug 9, 5:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert40 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.