Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 123, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1997, 6:00 PM MDT for 4 counties in Colorado. It was in force for 45 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 16, 1997, 6:00 PM MDT (00:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 1997, 6:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
Counties Arapahoe County, CO, Denver County, CO, Douglas County, CO, Jefferson County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 145 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1611 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1576 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -15 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDEN 170000 RRA
SVRDEN
COC005-031-035-059-170045-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
600 PM MDT SAT AUG 16 1997
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
EAST CENTRAL JEFFERSON...NORTH CENTRAL DOUGLAS...SOUTHWESTERN
ARAPAHOE AND SOUTHWESTERN DENVER
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
SOUTHEASTERN AURORA...SOUTHWESTERN DENVER...ENGLEWOOD...
LITTLETON...CHATFIELD RESERVOIR...GREENWOOD VILLAGE AND
HIGHLANDS RANCH
AT 600 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER LITTLETON...OR ABOUT 11 MILES SOUTH OF
DENVER.
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES PER HOUR.
IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...GO INSIDE A STURDY SHELTER
AWAY FROM CREEK BEDS AND OTHER FLOOD-PRONE AREAS. REMEMBER...A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS OVER 60
MPH...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAnST
OFFICE IN DENVER.
FMC
LAT...LON 3966 10476 3950 10481 3955 10512 3967 10502What 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 16, 4:35 PM MDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
COZ035-036-038-039-040-043-162330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 435 PM MDT SAT AUG 16 1997 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN THE FOOTHILLS LATE THIS AFTERNOON... AT 430 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES EAST OF BOULDER...OR ABOUT 24 MILES NORTHWEST OF DENVER. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES PER HOUR. PERSONS IN OR NEAR ARVADA...BOULDER...BROOMFIELD...LONGMONT... ELDORADO SPRINGS...ERIE...JAMESTOWN...LAFAYETTE...LOUISVILLE...NIWOT ...ROCKY FLATS AND SUPERIOR SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF BAD WEATHER APPROACHES. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...AND GUSTY WINDS WILL OCCUR WITH THIS STORM. RADAR INDICATED THIS STORM HAD PRODUCED UP TO 1 INCH OF RAINFALL IN THE LAST HOUR. ELSEWHERE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE FOOTHILLS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND DRIFT INTO THE URBAN CORRIDOR. HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS. WATER LEVELS OF SMALL STREAMS AND RIVERS MAY ALSO RISE...THEREFORE SEEK HIGHER GROUND IF THREATENED BY FLOOD WATERS. FMC
Special weather statement, Aug 16, 4:37 PM MDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
COZ035-036-038-039-040-043-162330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 435 PM MDT SAT AUG 16 1997 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN THE FOOTHILLS LATE THIS AFTERNOON... AT 430 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES EAST OF BOULDER...OR ABOUT 24 MILES NORTHWEST OF DENVER. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES PER HOUR. PERSONS IN OR NEAR ARVADA...BOULDER...BROOMFIELD...LONGMONT... ELDORADO SPRINGS...ERIE...JAMESTOWN...LAFAYETTE...LOUISVILLE...NIWOT ...ROCKY FLATS AND SUPERIOR SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF BAD WEATHER APPROACHES. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...AND GUSTY WINDS WILL OCCUR WITH THIS STORM. RADAR INDICATED THIS STORM HAD PRODUCED UP TO 1 INCH OF RAINFALL IN THE LAST HOUR. ELSEWHERE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE FOOTHILLS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND DRIFT INTO THE URBAN CORRIDOR. HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS. WATER LEVELS OF SMALL STREAMS AND RIVERS MAY ALSO RISE...ZTHEREFORE SEEK HIGHER GROUND IF THREATENED BY FLOOD WATERS. FMC
The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 6:51 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Morgan, Washington | 39 min |
| Aug 16, 7:28 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Adams | 32 min |
| Aug 16, 7:38 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 22 min |
| Aug 16, 7:48 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 27 min |
| Aug 16, 7:59 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 46 min |
| Aug 16, 8:17 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln, Washington | 28 min |
| Aug 16, 8:31 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Larimer, Weld | 44 min |
| Aug 16, 8:40 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Logan, Weld | 30 min |
| Aug 16, 9:10 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 50 min |
| Aug 16, 9:34 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Boulder, Larimer | 31 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997
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.