Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 178, NWS Pueblo, CO

July 31, 1996Kiowa County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 31, 1996, 4:52 AM MDT for Kiowa County, Colorado. It was in force for 63 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 31, 1996, 4:52 AM MDT (10:52 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1996, 5:55 AM MDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Pueblo, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Kiowa County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:53 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 00:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 165 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 1996-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 794 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 1996-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 1 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
794 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2039 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPUB 311051
SVRPUB
COC061-311155-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
452 AM MDT WED JUL 31 1996

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY      IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 555 AM MDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    TOWNER THROUGH 515 AM

* AT 451 AM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE STORM AT TOWNER MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  30 MPH.



LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FOLLOW UP STATEMENTSh AND
WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PUEBLO.

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

SR

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 31, 4:09 AM MDT, 43 minutes before
COZ078-311215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
410 AM MDT WED JUL 31 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY...

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY BY
415 AM...AFFECTING HIGHWAY 385 NORTH OF SHERIDAN LAKE THROUGH 445 AM
AND MOVING NEAR SHERIDAN LAKE AND TOWNER BY 445 AM.

THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE TORRENTIAL RAINFALL UP TO TWO INCHES PER HOUR
...WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH...SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.  DRIVERS SHOULD PULL OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WHILE THE
STORM PASSES.

AT 406 AM...DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THE STORM LOCATED 13 MILES NORTH OF
SHERIDAN LAKE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

DO NOT DRIVE OR WALK INTO WATER OF UNKNOWN DEPTH.  THE ROADWAY
OR PATHWAY MAY BE WASHED OUT...AND WATER COULD BE MUCH DEEPER
THAN YOU THINK.  KEEP CHILDREN AND OTHERS AWAY FROM FAST FLOWING
WATER AND STORM DRAINS...WHICH COULD BECOME DEADLY DURING HIGH
WATER.
Special weather statement, Jul 31, 4:42 AM MDT, 10 minutes before
COZ078-311145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
442 AM MDT WED JUL 31 1996

...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH FAR EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY...

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR TOWNER BY 445 PM AND WILL
PRODUCE TORRENTIAL RAINFALL OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR...WIND GUSTS UP
TO 50 MPH...SMALL HAIL...AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

AT 440 PM...RADAR SHOWED THE STORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF TOWNER...
OR 7 MILESH NORTHEAST OF SHERIDAN LAKE.  MOVEMENT OF THE STORM WAS
SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 9:03 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso, Pueblo47 min
Jul 31, 2:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso60 min
Jul 31, 4:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBaca64 min
Jul 31, 5:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBaca60 min
Jul 31, 5:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa61 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.