Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 188, NWS Pueblo, CO

August 1, 1996El Paso County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 1, 1996, 10:39 PM MDT for El Paso County, Colorado. It was in force for 61 min. 3 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 1, 1996, 10:39 PM MDT (04:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 1, 1996, 11:40 PM MDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Pueblo, CO
Area
Whole counties

County El Paso County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:37 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
Aug 1, 10:40 PM MDTHail 1.75Ellicott, CO
Aug 1, 10:50 PM MDTHail 2Ellicott, CO
Aug 1, 11:02 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 52Manitou Spgs, 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, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 160 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 1996-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 94 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 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 1996-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 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
94 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3371 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Aug 1, 5:56 PM MDT, 4 hours 43 minutes before
COZ076-020100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
556 PM MDT THU AUG 1 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH CROWLEY AND OTERO COUNTIES...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE OVER HIGHWAY 96 EAST OF SUGAR CITY
THROUGH 600 PM MDT.  ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL CROSS HIGHWAY 71
NORTH OF ORDWAY THROUGH 600 PM.  YET AT THIRD STORM WILL OVER
HIGHWAY 109 SOUTH OF LA JUNTA BETWEEN 555 AND 630 PM MDT.

THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...HAIL UP TO 1/2 INCH
IN DIAMETER...AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH.

AT 555 PM MDT PUEBLO DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THESE STRONG STORMS LOCATED 5
MILES EAST OF SUGAR CITY...10 MILES NORTH OF ORDWAY...AND 10 MILES SOUTH
OF LZA JUNTA.  MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS TO THE SOUTH SOUTH SOUTHEAST
AT 20 MPH.

KT
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 6:24 PM MDT, 4 hours 15 minutes before
COZ077-079-020130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
624 PM MDT THU AUG 1 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM NORTHWEST OF TOONERVILLE...

A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL NEARING 3/4 INCH
DIAMETER...AND WINDS GUSTING TO 45 MPH...IS GOING TO MOVE ACROSS
CENTRAL PARTS OF BENT COUNTY THROUGH 640 PM.

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS NOTED BY PUEBLO DOPPLER RADAR AT 622 PM
13 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LA JUNTA...OR JUST NORTHWEST OF TOONERVILLE...
AND MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 6:32 PM MDT, 4 hours 7 minutes before
COZ074-077-020135-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
632 PM MDT THU AUG 1 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN ALONG THE I-25 CORRIDOR NEAR THE
SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS...

A CLUSTER OF STORMS ARE GOING TO MOVE SOUTHEAST ALONG INTERSTATE
25...FROM 10 MILES NORTH OF TRINIDAD TO THE NEW MEXICO STATE
LINE THROUGH 655 PM MDT.

A LINE OF STRONG STORMS...ABOUT 25 MILES WIDE.... WAS NOTED BY PUEBLO
DOPPLER RADAR 20 MILES SOUTH OF WALSENBURG...TO 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
WALSENBURG...AT 630 PM MDT.  MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

HEAVY RAINFALL AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE ANTICIPATED WITH THESE STORMS
NEAR THE SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS.
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 7:53 PM MDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
COZ060-062-020300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
753 PM MDT THU AUG 1 1996

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLING OVER THE EASTERN LA GARITA MOUNTAINS
AND NEAR DEL NORTE...

LOOK FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE DEL NORTE
AREA AND THE EASTERN LA GARITA MOUNTAIN RANGE TO CONTINUE THROUGH
825 PM MDT...WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH.

AT 750 MDT THE STRONGEST STORM WAS 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF DEL
NORTE...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 8:42 PM MDT, 1 hour 57 minutes before
COZ068-069-020345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
842 PM MDT THU AUG 1 1996

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE OVER CENTRAL FREMONT COUNTY ALONG AND
NORTH OF HIGHWAY 50 FROM NJEAR HOWARD TO THE ROYAL GORGE THROUGH 930
PM...BRINGING HEAVY RAIN...WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AND SMALL HAIL.

AT 830 PM...RADAR SHOWED THE STRONGEST STORM ABOUT 5 MILES NORTH OF
TEXAS CREEK.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY EAST.

HAYNES
Special weather statement, Aug 1, 9:25 PM MDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
COZ071-073-020430-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
925 PM MDT THU AUG 1 1996

...HEAVY RAIN BEING PRODUCED BY A STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING ALONG
INTERSTATE 25 JUST SOUTH OF FOUNTAIN...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE GOING TO CONTINUE CAUSING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IN
EXTREME SOUTHERN EL PASO AND INTO NORTHERN PUEBLO COUNTIES THROUGH
945 PM MDT.

AT 915 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM LOCATED FROM 3
MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF FOUNTAIN...TO 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FOUNTAIN...
MOVING SOUTH SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.  DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THIS
STORM...THE PROXIMITY TO I-25...AND THE HEAVY RAIN IN ASSOCIATION WITH
THE STORM...MOTORISTS ALONG I-25 MAY ENCOUNTER GREATLY REDUCED
VISIBILITIES AT TIMES IN SOUTHERN EL PASO AND NORTHERN EL PASO
COUNTIES...ALONG WITH PONDED WATER ON HIGHWAYS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 1, 7:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa64 min
Aug 1, 9:51 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningPUBFremont54 min
Aug 1, 9:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBFremont54 min
Aug 1, 9:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso50 min
Aug 1, 10:28 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningPUBEl Paso, Pueblo62 min
Aug 1, 10:56 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningPUBFremont64 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.