Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Goodland, KS

July 13, 1996Yuma County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 1996, 5:26 PM MDT for Yuma County, Colorado. It was in force for 49 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
Jul 13, 1996, 5:26 PM MDT (23:26 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 1996, 6:15 PM MDT
In force
49 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 23:25 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, 11.4 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1996-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 470 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 1996-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 17 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
470 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-201 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1684 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 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 KGLD 132330
TORGLD
COC125-140015-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
526 PM MDT SAT JUL 13 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND KS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

   ...WESTERN YUMA COUNTY
 
AT 525 PM MDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY GOODLAND DOPPLER
RADAR 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WRAY OR 5 MILES NORTH OF JOES MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

THIS WARNING UPGRADES THE LAST SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
WESTERN YUMA COUNTY.

AT PRESENT MOVEMENT THE TORNADO WILL BE AROUND....
  JOES                        BY 536 PM MDT
  KIRK                        BY 545 PM MDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

GONSOWSKI

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 13, 2:36 PM MDT, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 2:36 PM MDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
236 PM MDT (336 PM CDT) SAT JUL 13 1996

...TSTMS AND AMOUNT OF RAIN IS MAIN CHALLENGE WITH THIS FCST...

MAIN CONCERN FOR CWA IS THIS EVE AND TONIGHT.  CONVECTION FIRING
UP OVR WY AND CO FOOTHILLS ATTM DUE TO AFTN HEATING AND UPSLOP FLOW.
STRONG SHORTWAVE INDICATED MOVG INTO NE WY AND HI PLAINS WHICH SHOULD
ENHANCE ACTIVITY NW OF FA THIS AFTN.  ADAPS ALREADY SHOWING BOUYANT
AMS OVR MUCH OF REGN THIS AFTN WITH NO CAP.  TIMING OF SHORTWAVE
(WHICH BOTH THE NGM/ETA VRY SIMILAR ON)...CONVERGENCE OF Q-VECTORS
IN THE 700-300 LAYERS AND STRONG LOW LVL MSTR CONVERGENCE SUGGESTS
TSTMS WL MOVE OVR FA BY 00Z.  FOLLOWING THE THETA-E RDG OVR THE HI
PLAINS WOULD PUT SW NEBRASKA AND NW KANSAS IN FAVORED TSTM AREAS.
LOOKING AT FZL AND WBZ FROM MORNING SOUNDINGS...HVY RAIN AND HAIL
LOOK TO BE THE MAIN THREATS.

ETA/NGM CONVECTIVE PCPN FIELDS AND UVVS OVR THE FA POINT TO ACTIVE
NIGHT WITH WIDESPREAD ACTIVITY UP TIL 12Z SUNDAY...THEN DESCENDING
MOTION FCST.  UPSLOP FLOW SHOULD CONTINUE EARLY BUT FEEL SUBSIDENCE
AND MIXING WL DIMINISH CLOUD COVER BY AFTN OVR MOST AREAS.  NGM
TIME-HGT CROSS XCTNS SHOWS MID LVL MSTR TO STAY OVR CWA THRU THE DAY
SUNDAY.  PREFER ETA MDL IN DRYING OUT AMS SUN/SUN NGT WITH BUILDING
HGTS ALFT.  REST OF FCST LOOKS FAIR WITH WARMING TEMPS.

GLD 059/080/058/092 810   HLC 063/080/061/092 820
CBK 060/079/058/092 810   MCK 060/079/059/092 810
TRB 059/081/057/094 7-0   ITR 056/080/057/091 7-0

KPL

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 2:06 PM MDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before
COZ090>092-132105-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
203 PM MDT SAT JUL 13 1996

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9OO PM MDT FOR EXTREME EASTERN
COLORADO...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM MDT FOR EXTREME EASTERN
COLORADO INCLUDING THE COUNTIES OF YUMA...KIT CARSON AND CHEYENNE
COUNTIES.

REMEMBER... A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARVE POSSIBLE
IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS. PEOPLE IN EASTERN COLORADO SHOULD STAY ALERT AND MONITOR NOAA
WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

MATHEWSON
Special weather statement, Jul 13, 5:14 PM MDT, 12 minutes before
COZ090>092-140120-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
513 PM MDT SAT JUL 13 1996

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM FOR YUMA... KIT
CARSON AND CHEYENNE COUNTIES...

STRONG-TO-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ROLL INTO WESTERN SECTIONS OF
YUMA...KIT CARSON AND CHEYENNE COUNTIES THROUGH 630 PM. THE LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH.

EXPECT LARGE HAIL...WIND GUSTS EXCEEDING 60 MPH...AND FREQUENT
CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING.

DURING A TORNADO WATCH...BE READY TO MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR TO A
SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE IF A WARNING IS
ISSUED OR IF A TORNADO IS SIGHTED.

AT SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING STORM...TOWERING THUNDERHEADS...DARKENING
SKIES...LIGHTNING AND INCREASING WINDS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE
LATEST UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS DANGEROUS
WEATHER SITUATION.

VjOJTESAK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 13, 5:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDYuma63 min
Jul 13, 5:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDYuma63 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.