Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Goodland, KS

July 7, 1996Yuma County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 7, 1996, 5:41 PM MDT for Yuma County, Colorado. It was in force for 64 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: Jul 7, 1996, 5:41 PM MDT (23:41 UTC)
Expired: Jul 7, 1996, 6:45 PM MDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Goodland, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Yuma County, CO

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 94 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
Jul 7, 6:00 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Yuma, CO
Jul 7, 6:48 PM MDT	Hail 2.5	Eckley, 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 70 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2098 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 22 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 KGLD 072341
TORGLD
COC125-080045-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
541 PM MDT SUN JUL 7 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND KS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

   ...THE NORTH HALF OF YUMA COUNTY
 
AT 539 PM MDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY GOODLAND DOPPLER
RADAR 29 MILES NORTHWEST OF WRAY OR 9 MILES 6NORTH OF YUMA MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 18 MPH.

AT PRESENT MOVEMENT THE TORNADO WILL BE AROUND AND NORTH OF....
  ECKLEY                      AROUND 630 PM MDT

GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

ENTWISTLE/SKIPPER

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.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jul 7, 2:22 PM MDT, 3 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 7, 2:22 PM MDT, 3 hours 19 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
222 PM MDT (322 PM CDT) SUN JUL 7 1996

...TIMING OF FROPA...LINGERING CLOUDS/PCPN CHCS APR TO BE
FCST CHALLENGES THIS SHIFT...

  GOING FCST FOR TONITE LUKD FINE AND WENT W/50 POPS ALL BUT SRNMOST
ZNS. 12HR THKNS DIFFL AND SFC PATRN SCENARIO OF MOISTURE/BNDRIES
SCENARIO SIMILAR TO LAST EVE SO HAV SUM CONFIDENCE THAT NRN ZNS
HAV GOOD CHC FOR PCPN. WITH FROPA NORTH...WUD EXPECT THINGS TO MOV
CLOSER TO CWA AS NITE WEARS ON.
  BEYOND FIRST PD...MY FCST IS KEYED ON THE TIMING OF THE COLD
FRONT. BASED ON 84T...BAROCLINIC ZN SETTING UP TO NW AND BLV
CONVECTION TONITE WIL ASSIST FROPA TO SLIP ACRS HIER TERRAIN THRU CO
ZNS 90/91...NE ZNS 79/80...KS ZNS 1/2 BY/NR SUNRISE. REINFORCING
NLY BNDRY LYR FLO TO FOLLOW AND BE A TAD GUSTY ABT 1/2 OF OF
MONDAY...BUT SHUD DIMINISH AND HOPEFULLY CLR OUT THINGS. AM BETTING
THIS NRLY FLO AND LWR DPS WIL SHUT OFF PCPN CHCS AND AS WINDS GO L/V
MON NITE CLRG WIL DROP TEMPS INTO MID 50S MOST LOCALES.
  HAV LEFT RESIDUAL POPS IN KS ZNS 4/16/41/42 FOR LIFT AHD OF FROPA
AND LINGERING CLOUDS IN CONVECTION OVRNITE. DONT THINK UPSLOP TO
MAKE THINGS MESSY ALL DAY...SO IM IN GENRL AGREEMENT W/MOS NMBRS.
BUT WILL GO A PT OR TWO LWR FOR MINS WITH CLRG AND A PT HIER
FOR MAXES FOR SUM DAYTIME SUNSHINE. REGARDS TO TOP/GID...

GLD  064/080/054/081 5-00  HLC 067/082/056/083 5200
CBK  066/081/057/082 5-00  MCK 062/080/057/082 50-0
TRB  065/083/054/0"84 420-  ITR 063/078/054/080 5100
VOJTESAK

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 7, 3:13 PM MDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before

COZ090>092-080415-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
312 PM MDT SUN JUL 7 1996

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM MDT FOR YUMA...KIT
CARSON AND CHEYENNE COUNTIES IN EXTREME EASTERN COLORADO...

A LINE OF STRONG-TO-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO THE WEST OF LIMON WILL BE
MOVING EASTWARD AT 15 TO 20 MPH DURING THE NEXT 3 TO 6 HOURS.

THIS LINE OF STORMS IS EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES TOWARDS THE
KANSAS AND NEBRASKA BORDER. LARGE HAIL...TORRENTIAL
RAINFALL... AND WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE WITH
THESE STORMS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN
AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS MAY ALSO
OCCUR.  BE READY TO MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR STORM CELLAR IF A WARNING
IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

VOJTESAK

Special weather statement, Jul 7, 4:52 PM MDT, 49 minutes before

KSZ001-002-003-004-013-014-015-016-027-028-029-041-042-080100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
451 PM MDT (551 PM CDT) SUN JUL 7 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT)...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF NORTHWEST KANSA
SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE ANY TIME THIS EVENING. THE  GREATEST
THREAT WILL BE AFTER MID EVENING WHEN A LINE OF STORMS MOVES IN
FROM COLORADO. BESIDES DAMAGING WINDS OR LARGE HAIL...THERE WILL ALSO BE
A THREAT OF FLOODING RAINS FROM THIS EVENINGS STORMS.

JJK

Special weather statement, Jul 7, 4:55 PM MDT, 46 minutes before

NEZ079-080-081-080100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
455 PM MDT (555 PM CDT) SUN JUL 7 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT)...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF EXTREME
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA.

SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE ANY TIME THIS EVENING. THE GREATEST
THREAT WILL BE AFTER MID EVENING WHEN A LINE OF STORMS MOVES IN
FROM COLORADO. BESIDES DAMAGING WINDS OR LARGE HAIL...THERE WILL ALSO BE
A THREAT OF FLOODING RAINS FROM THIS EVENINGS STORMS.

JJK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Goodland, KS issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 6, 10:06 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Kit Carson	64 min
Jul 6, 11:07 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Kit Carson, Yuma	58 min
Jul 7, 4:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Yuma	65 min
Jul 7, 4:45 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GLD	Yuma	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.