Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 166, NWS Pueblo, CO

July 25, 1996Bent County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 25, 1996, 6:37 PM MDT for Bent County, Colorado. It was in force for 48 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 25, 1996, 6:37 PM MDT (00:37 UTC)
Expired
Jul 25, 1996, 7:25 PM MDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Pueblo, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Bent County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:36 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 25, 6:45 PM MDTHail 0.75Las Animas, 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, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 213 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 00:00Z on 1996-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 353 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 00:00Z on 1996-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 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
353 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2818 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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 KPUB 260038
SVRPUB
COC011-260125-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
637 PM MDT THU JUL 25 1996

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  BENT COUNTY      IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 725 PM MDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    LAS ANIMAS BY 645 PM MDT

* AT 635 PM MDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE STORM 6 MILES WEST OF LAS ANIMAS
  MOVING EAST 20 MPH.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT.  SEVERE STORMS CAN P"RODUCE TORNADOES.

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 25, 2:13 PM MDT, 4 hours 24 minutes before
COZ068-073-252100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
213 PM MDT THU JUL 25 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED OVER SOUTH CENTRAL FREMONT
COUNTY...

THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROYAL GORGE AT 210 PM
MDT...WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL OVER
SOUTHERN FREMONT AND NORTHERN CUSTER COUNTY THROUGH 235 PM MDT.

THE STEEP TERRAIN THROUGH SOUTHERN FREMONT COUNTY CAN ADD TO RAPID
RUNOFF OF HEAVY RAINFALL. EXERCISE CAUTION IN THESE AREAS.

BACKCOUNTRY HIKERS...CAMPERS AND OTHERS IN THE AREA SHOULD REMEMBER
THESE SAFETY RULES...IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE DURING A LIGHTNING
STORM...FIND A LOW SPOT. SHELTER YOURSELF UNDER SHORTER TREES. AVOID
ISOLATED...TALL 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.

GRAY
Special weather statement, Jul 25, 3:05 PM MDT, 3 hours 32 minutes before
COZ064-252155-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
305 PM MDT THU JUL 25 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH THE SOUTHERN
PARTS OF THE SAN LUIS VALLEY TH^IS AFTERNOON...

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS AT 3 PM MDT WERE IN COSTILLA COUNTY NEAR
SAN ACACIO AND NORTH OF SAN LUIS NEAR HIGHWAY 159. THE STORMS WERE
MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT SAN ACACIO.

GRAY
Special weather statement, Jul 25, 4:07 PM MDT, 2 hours 30 minutes before
COZ066-074-075-252240-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
406 PM MDT THU JUL 25 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED NEAR THE SPANISH PEAKS...

AT 4 PM MDT...THE STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS ALONG AND NEAR HIGHWAY 12
BETWEEN LA VETA AND CUCHARA...MOVING EAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH.

THE STORM CAN BE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE 1/2 INCH OR SMALLER HAIL AND VERY
HEAVY RAIN IN THE OPEN COUNTRY NEAR THE SPANISH PEAKS THROUGH 430 PM
MDT.8

GRAY
Special weather statement, Jul 25, 4:29 PM MDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
COZ075-252320-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
429 PM MDT THU JUL 25 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY...

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE ALONG HIGHWAY 12...WEST OF
TRINIDAD...THROUGH 500 PM BRINGING HAIL UP TO 1/2 INCH DIAMETER AND
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.

AT 425 PM DOPPLER RADAR IN PUEBLO SHOWED THE STRONG STORM NEAR SEGUNDO
MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

IF YOU PLAN TO BE OUTDOORS...CHECK THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION AND KEEP AN EYE TO THE SKY. DEADLY LIGHTNING CAN
OCCUR WITH ALL THUNDERSTORMS. IF A THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES... GET
INDOORS OR IN A VEHICLE. LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE SEVERAL MILES AWAY
FROM THE STORM...WHERE IT IS NOT RAINING AND WHERE YOU MAY BE.

WOLYN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 25, 6:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBProwers62 min
Jul 26, 1:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBTeller64 min
Jul 26, 2:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso65 min
Jul 26, 2:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso61 min
Jul 26, 3:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso32 min
Jul 26, 5:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso47 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.