Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 25, 1997Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1997, 5:11 PM MDT for Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 29 min. 1 report came from 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, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 25, 1997, 5:11 PM MDT (23:11 UTC)
Expired: May 25, 1997, 5:40 PM MDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 25, 5:43 PM MDT	Hail 1.75	Watkins, 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 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 107 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 108 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1057 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -69 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.0
Supercell composite: -1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

363 
WFUS1 KDEN 252314 RRA
TORDEN
COC001-005-252340-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
511 PM MDT SUN MAY 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 540 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     NORTH CENTRAL ARAPAHOE AND SOUTH CENTRAL ADAMS

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     BENNETT...MANILA VILLAGE AND WATKINS

AT 510 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER MANILA VILLAGE...OR ABOUT 
25 MILES EAST OF DENVER.  AMATEUR RADIO SPOTTERS SPOTTED A  WEAK 
TORNADO NEAR POWHATAN ROAD AND MISSISSIPPI ROAD AT 507PM.  

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES PER HOUR.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3971 10435 3966 10455 3976 10465 3983 10447
RTG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 24, 11:00 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Weld	3 hr
May 25, 5:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Weld	30 min
May 25, 5:21 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Morgan, Weld	24 min
May 25, 5:43 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Morgan, Weld	32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.