Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 98, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 28, 1996, 5:40 PM MDT for Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 35 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 28, 1996, 5:40 PM MDT (23:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 28, 1996, 6:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 35 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 23:42 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 28, 5:45 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Lindon, CO | |
| Aug 28, 6:20 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Akron, 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, 11.7 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
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1477 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 4 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 44 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 282342
TORDEN
COC121-290015-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
540 PM MDT WED AUG 28 1996
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
ELBA AND LINDON
AT 536 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 9 MILES NORTH OF LINDON...OR
ABOUT 44 MILES NORTH OF LIMON.
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST 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.
LAT...LON 3984 10302 3969 10348 3993 10354 4009 10311
KLEYLAWhat 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 28, 1:27 PM MDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
COZ035-036-038>041-28200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 128 PM MDT WED AUG 28 1996 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS... AT 125 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM NORTHWEST OF FORT COLLINS TO WEST OF DENVER TO BAILEY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS UP TO 1" PER HOUR...SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AS THEY MOVE INTO THE URBAN CORRIDOR BY 2 PM AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF BAD WEATHER APPROACHES. HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS LOW LYING ROADS COVERED WITH WATER AS THEY MAY BE FLOODED. KLEYLA
Special weather statement, Aug 28, 2:55 PM MDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before
COZ035-036-038>041-046-047-282130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 255 PM MDT WED AUG 28 1996 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER THE FRONT RANGE THIS AFTERNOON... AT 250 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN UP TO 1.5" PER HOUR... SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIMON NEAR MATHESON...40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DENVER NEAR ELBERT AND 20 MILES NORTH OF FORT COLLINS NEAR CARR. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF BAD WEATHER APPROACHES. HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS LOW LYING ROADS COVERED WITH WATER AS THEY MAY BE FLOODED. KLEYLA
Special weather statement, Aug 28, 3:32 PM MDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
COZ038>40-046-047-282215- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 332 PM MDT WED AUG 28 1996 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER THE FRONT RANGE THIS AFTERNOON... AT 325 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN UP TO 1.5" PER HOUR... SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIMON OR 10 MILES WEST OF SIMLA AND 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF FORT COLLINS NEAR ROCKPORT. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF BAD WEATHER APPROACHES. HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS LOW LYING ROADS COVERED WITH WATER AS THEY MAY BE FLOODED. KLEYLA
Special weather statement, Aug 28, 4:49 PM MDT, 51 minutes before
COZ038>40-046-047-282330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 449 PM MDT WED AUG 28 1996 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO... AT 445 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN UP TO 1.5" PER HOUR... HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING 50 MILES EAST OF DENVER OR 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF DEERTRAIL...10 MILES NORTH OF LIMON...AND 40 MILES WEST OF STERLING NEAR BUCKINGHAM. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF BAD WEATHER APPROACHES. HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS LOW LYING ROADS COVERED WITH WATER AS THEY MAY BE FLOODED. KLEYLA
The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28, 5:24 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 36 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.