Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 134, NWS Pueblo, CO

July 21, 1996Baca County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 21, 1996, 7:47 PM MDT for Baca County, Colorado. It was in force for 63 min. 1 report 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 21, 1996, 7:47 PM MDT (01:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1996, 8:50 PM MDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Pueblo, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Baca County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 191 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:47 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 21, 7:50 PM MDTHail 1.25Springfield, 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

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 240 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1996-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 441 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1996-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 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
441 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2789 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPUB 220146
SVRPUB
COC009-220250-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
747 PM MDT SUN JUL 21 1996

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  SOUTHEASTERN BACA COUNTY      IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 850 PM MDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    OPEN COUNTRY BETWEEN STONINGTON AND CAMPO...TO THE
    COLORADO/OKLAHOMA BORDER.

* AT 745 PM MDT RADAR SHOWED SEVERE STORMS 22 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  SPRINGFIErLD MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

A FOLLOW UP STATEMENT WITH MORE DETAILS WILL BE OUT SHORTLY.

RMG

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Jul 21, 3:34 PM MDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
COZ074-075-212240-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
335 PM MDT SUN JUL 21 1996

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHEAST HUERFANO
COUNTY...

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE ACROSS I-25 BETWEEN PRYOR AND AGUILAR...OR
ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF WALSENBURG...BETWEEN 340 PM AND 4 PM MDT. HAIL
OF 1/2 INCH DIAMETER HAIL OR SMALLER...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WIND
GUSTS AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE AREA.

AT 335 PM MDT...THE STORM WAS 10 MILES SOUTH OF WALSENBURG...MOVING
EAST AT 10 MPH.

MOTORISTS ON I-25 SHOULD ESPECIALLY PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER AS
THIS STORM CROSSES THE INTERSTATE.
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 3:41 PM MDT, 4 hours 6 minutes before
COZ074-075-212240-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
335 PM MDT SUN JUL 21 1996

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHEAST HUERFANO
COUNTY...

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE ACROSS I-25 BETWEEN PRYOR AND AGUILAR...OR
ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF WALSENBURG...BETWEEN 340 PM AND 4 PM MDT. HAIL
OF 1/2 INCH DIAMETER OR SMALLER...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WIND
GUSTS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STORM AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE AREA.

AT 335 PM MDT...THE THUNDERSTORM WAS 10 MILES SOUTH OF WALSENBURG...
MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

MOTORISTS ON I-25 SHOULD ESPECIALLY PAY ATTENTION TO THE WEATHER AS
THIS STORM CROSSES THE INTERSTATE.
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 4:32 PM MDT, 3 hours 15 minutes before
COZ074-075-077-081-212305-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
432 PM MDT SUN JUL 21 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FORMING OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN COLORADO...

AT 430 PM MDT...THE STRONG STORMS IN COLORADO WERE FORMING ALONG A LINE
FROM WALSENBURG...IN HUERFANO COUNTY...SOUTH TO TRINIDAD AND EAST TO
KIM IN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY. THE STORMS CONTINUED EAST ACROSS BACA
COUNTY...JUST SOUTHEAST OF SPRINGFIELD TO THE COLORADO KANSAS STATE
LINE...SOUTHEAST OF BARTLETT.

THIS AREA IN EXTREME SOUTHERN COLORADO IS ALONG A MOISTURE RICH...
THUNDERSTORM PRONE BOUNDARY...AND COULD BECOME THE FOCUS AREA FOR SOME
SEVERE WEATHER IN SOUTHERN COLORADO THIS EVENING.

HAIL...VERY HEAVY RfAIN AND STRONG WIND GUSTS SHOULD ALL BE ANTICIPATED
WITH THESE DEVELOPING STORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING.

STAY TUNED FOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS
CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

GRAY
Special weather statement, Jul 21, 5:55 PM MDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
COZ073-220100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
555 PM MDT SUN JUL 21 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHWEST PUEBLO COUNTY...

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT COLORADO CITY AND OPEN COUNTRY
NORTH OF COLORADO CITY...WEST OF I-25 AND SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 78 THROUGH AT
LEAST 630 PM. THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH...
...HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

AT 553 PM...DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED MOST INTENSE PORTION OF THE STORM
2 MILES NORTH OF COLORADO CITY. THE STORM WAS DRIFTING NORTH AT 10 MPH.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE DURING A LIGHTNING STORM...FIND A LOW
SPOT. SHELTER YOURSELF UNDER SHORTER TREES. AVOID ISOLATED...TALVL
TREES. STAY AWAY FROM WATER...POWER POLES AND METAL OBJECTS...
SUCH AS A FENCE ROW OR GOLF CLUBS. IF IN A GROUP...STAY APART. IF
SOMEONE IS STRUCK...OTHERS WILL BE ABLE TO HELP THE VICTIM.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pueblo, CO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 6:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBaca46 min
Jul 21, 8:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBPueblo62 min
Jul 21, 9:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBProwers66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.