Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 47, NWS Goodland, KS

August 4, 1996Yuma County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 4, 1996, 7:52 PM MDT for Yuma County, Colorado. It was in force for 48 min. 4 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 4, 1996, 7:52 PM MDT (01:52 UTC)
Expired: Aug 4, 1996, 8:40 PM MDT
In force: 48 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 01:56 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
Aug 4, 7:55 PM MDT	Hail 1.5	Yuma, CO
Aug 4, 8:05 PM MDT	Hail 1.5	Yuma, CO
Aug 4, 8:20 PM MDT	Hail 0.88	Wray, CO
Aug 4, 8:30 PM MDT	Hail 0.88	Vernon, 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 00:00Z, 1.9 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: 1224 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -42 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2383 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 211 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGLD 050149
TORGLD
COC125-050240-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
752 PM MDT SUN AUG 4 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND KS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 840 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

   ...WESTERN YUMA COUNTY
 
AT 749 PM MDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY GOODLAND DOPPLER
RADAR 27 MILES NORTHWEST OF WRAY OR 12 MILES NORTH OF YUMA MOVING
EAST AT 26 MPH. THE TORNADO IS CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER
RURAL AREAS. THIS WARNING UPGRADES THE PRIOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING FOR NORTHWEST YUMA.

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

VJN

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 Aug 4, 1:02 PM MDT, 6 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 1:02 PM MDT, 6 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
102 PM MDT (202 PM CDT) SUN AUG 4 1996

SHRT TERM CHALLENGE WILL DEFINITELY BE SVR WX CHCS LT THIS AFT
INTO TNGT.  ETA GRIDDED DATA INDCS STRONG H7-H4 Q-VEC CNVRG BGNG
OVR NE CO AND SPREADING ACROSS MOST OF THE CWA BY EVE WITH
ACCOMPANYING LLVL MOISTURE CNVRG.  FEEL ATTM...SPC MAY EXTEND ITS
MODERATE AND SLIGHT RISKS FTHR S AND SLIGHTLY WEST INTO OUR CWA AS
CAPE VALUES TO 4000 J AND MORE FAVORABLE WND PROFILES DVLP LTR TDA.
INCRNG MID AND UPR LVL WNDS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE LARGEST HELICITY
INCREASES OVR OUR AREA...ALTHOUGH ...AS SFC LOW DEEPENS MORE OVR WRN
KS BY EVE...WNDS SHOULD BACK AT THE SFC...GIVING MORE LLVL CYCLONIC
TURNING....SPCLY NERN COUNTIES. ATTM WILL WEIGHT HIER POPS TNGT
ACROSS NE COUNTIES AND CALL FOR SOME STMS SVR WITH LARGE HAIL AS IT
JUST IS A MATTER OF TM BEFORE OTHER WATCHES ARE ISSUED.

IN THE OUT PERIODS...MODELS CONT TO FLIP FLOP ON THE AMOUNT OF
COOLING XPCD BEHIND THE FNT.  LTST ETA AND SPCLY THE NGM NOW INDC
HI TEMPS RECOVERING QUICKLY ON MONDAY AS THE FNT BEGINS TO WASH OUT
ACROSS CENTRAL KS.  ATTM...WILL LKLY GO WITH TEMPS 1 CAT LWR THAN
THIS MORNINGS FWC...MNLY DUE XPCD NRLY SFC WNDS BEHIND THE FNT AND
GROUNDS THAT WILL LKLY BE MOISTENED AGN BY ADDITIONAL RNFL TNGT.
WITH GD MID AND UPR LVL SUBSIDENCE XPCD ON MONDAY...SEE NO REASON
FOR POPS ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NGT.  WILL LEAVE POPS OUT ON TUE GVN
THAT ITS 4TH PD AND SEE LTL FORCING TO RESULT IN PRECIP ATTM.
HIGHS ON TUE SHOULD RECOVER CLSR TO FWC HIGHS.  SEE CCF PTN FOR
POP AND TEMP DETAILS.

GLD 61/88/63/93 500    HLC 67/92/69/95 610
CBK 63/89/66/94 5-0    MCK 64/89/67/92 610
TRB 63/91/64/95 400    ITR 59/87/62/91 400

VJN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 5:12 PM MDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before

KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-050520-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
514 PM MDT (614 PM CDT) SUN AUG 4 1996

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS POSTED FOR ALL OF NORTHWEST
KANSAS UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT)...

CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MAKING A RUN AT THE FORECAST AREA
THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT FROM THE SOUTHWEST. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT OVER THE
FORECAST AREA.

IN THE SHORT-TERM...AREAS EAST OF A TRIBUNE TO HOXIE LINE CAN
EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO BE IN THE VICINITY THROUGH 9 PM MDT (10
PM CDT). UPSTREAM OVER PARTS OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS...HAIL TO ONE INCH
HAS BEEN REPORTED.

LATER TONIGHT...A STRONG UPPER-LEVEL SYSTEM WILL FURTHER ENHANCE
ACTIVITY OVER MUCH OF NORTHWEST KANSAS.

AT SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING STORM...TOWERING THUNDERHEADS...DARKENING
SKIES...LIGHTNING AND INCREASING WINDS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.
TUNE IN NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR
THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

VOJTESAK

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 6:17 PM MDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before

NEZ079>081-050120-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
617 PM MDT (717 PM CDT) SUN AUG 4 1996

...TORNADO WATCH FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA UNTIL 1 AM MDT (2 AM
CDT)...

THIS REPLACES THE WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR RED WILLOW COUNTY
UNTIL 8 PM CDT.

DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORMS THREATEN TO MOVE IN FROM COLORADO THIS
EVENING. BY THE TIME YOU SEE STORMS APPROACHING...YOU SHOULD KNOW
WHAT TO DO IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.

IF YOU PLAN TO BE OUTDOORS THIS EVENING...CHECK THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION AND KEEP A WEATHER EYE ON THE SKY.

JJK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 4, 7:36 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Yuma	64 min
Aug 4, 7:56 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GLD	Yuma	49 min
Aug 4, 8:39 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GLD	Yuma	36 min
Aug 4, 9:09 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Yuma	61 min
Aug 4, 9:43 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GLD	Yuma	47 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.