Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Pueblo, CO

May 9, 1996Otero County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 1996, 9:04 PM MDT for Otero County, Colorado. It was in force for 46 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
May 9, 1996, 9:04 PM MDT (03:04 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1996, 9:50 PM MDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Pueblo, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Otero County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:03 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, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 223 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 1996-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 123 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 1996-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -49 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
123 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
554 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPUB 100305
SVRPUB
COC089-100350-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
904 PM MDT THU MAY 9 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PUEBLO CO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 950 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO

   ...EASTERN OTERO COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE ACROSS HIGHWAY 109 SOUTH OF LA JUNTA BY
905 PM...BRINGING 3/4 INCH DIAMETER OR LARGER HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS
OVER 60 MPH.

AT 902 PM...RADAR SHOWED THE SEVERE STORM 5 MILES SOUTH OF LA JUNTA
MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
ADVANCE PLANNING DURING A TORNADO WATCH IS ESSENTIAL. YOU SHOULD
KNOW WHERE TO GO TO BE SAFE IN THE PLACE YOU ARE...OR WILL BE
LOCATED.

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, May 9, 5:17 PM MDT, 3 hours 47 minutes before
COZ071-072-100120-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
516 PM MDT THU MAY 9 1996

...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 1100 PM MDT FOR EASTERN EL PASO COUNTY...
...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING ACROSS NORTHEAST EL PASO COUNTY...

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF PEYTON AT 510 PM...WILL CONTINUE
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL PASS JUST NORTH OF CALHAN BY 520 PM
AND WILL APPROACH RAMAH BY 540 PM.  SMALL HAIL AND STRONG WINDS ARE
POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER THE CITY OF COLORADO
SPRINGS...ALSO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

IF YOU PLAN TO BE OUTDOORS...CHECK THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION AND KEEP AN EYE TO THE SKY. DEADLY LIGHTNING CAN
OCnCUR 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.
Special weather statement, May 9, 7:55 PM MDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
COZ071-072-100315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
754 PM MDT THU MAY 9 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE DEVELOPING IN EL PASO COUNTY...

AT 750 PM MDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG THE EL PASO AND
LINCOLN COUNTY LINE EAST OF RUSH....ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS 7 MILES
SOUTH OF FALCON ALONG HIGHWAY 94.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30
MPH.  SOME STORMS MAY PRODUCE SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN.

ADVANCE PLANNING DURING A TORNADO WATCH IS ESSENTIAL. YOU SHOULD
KNOW WHERE TO GO TO BE SAFE IN THE PLACE YOU ARE...OR WILL BE
LOCATED.
Special weather statement, May 9, 8:36 PM MDT, 28 minutes before
COZ076-100425-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
836 PM MDT THU MAY 9 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN OTERO COUNTY...

AT 832 PM RADAR SHOWED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
HAWLEY...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.  THE STORM WILL CROSS HIGHWAY 71 SOUTH
OF HAWLEY BETWEEN 845 AND 900 PM.  THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE SMALL
HAIL...GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN.

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 YzOU MAY BE.
Special weather statement, May 9, 8:50 PM MDT, 14 minutes before
COZ078-100425-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
850 PM MDT THU MAY 9 1996

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHEAST KIOWA COUNTY...

AT 848 PM MDT RADAR SHOWED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES NORTH OF
SHERIDAN LAKE ALONG HIGHWAY 385.  THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE HAIL UP TO
3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 60
MPH.  THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

ADVANCE PLANNING DURING A TORNADO WATCH IS ESSENTIAL. YOU SHOULD
KNOW WHERE TO GO TO BE SAFE IN THE PLACE YOU ARE...OR WILL BE
LOCATED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 6:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso49 min
May 9, 10:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa61 min
May 9, 10:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBProwers46 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.