Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 94, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 9, 1996, 4:07 PM MDT for Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 23 min. 2 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 9, 1996, 4:07 PM MDT (22:07 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 9, 1996, 4:30 PM MDT
- In force
- 23 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
County Arapahoe County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 23 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:09 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 9, 4:08 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Bennett, CO | |
| Aug 9, 4:15 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Strasburg, 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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 98 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDEN 092208
TORDEN
COC005-092230-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
407 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 ARAPAHOE
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
BYERS...COUNTRY GARDENS AND STRASBURG
AT 408 PM MDT...THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
BENNET....OR ABOUT 25 MILES EAST OF DENVER.
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 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 3957 10413 3957 10448 3973 10447 3973 10418What 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 53 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 27 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 9, 3:53 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Adams | 37 min |
| Aug 9, 4:11 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan, Weld | 19 min |
| Aug 9, 4:29 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Arapahoe | 31 min |
| Aug 9, 5:40 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Elbert | 40 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.