Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 12, 1997Arapahoe County, Douglas County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 1997, 2:11 PM MDT for Arapahoe County, Douglas County, Colorado. It was in force for 34 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: Jun 12, 1997, 2:11 PM MDT (20:11 UTC)
Expired: Jun 12, 1997, 2:45 PM MDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Arapahoe County, CO, Douglas County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:10 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 12, 2:19 PM MDT	Tornado F1	Parker, CO	A tornado touched down near Parker, damaging some construction equipment. The length and path of the storm was approximated.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 12, 12:30 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Carson/Butt, CO (KFCS), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 87 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1705 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 122013 RRA
TORDEN
COC005-035-122045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
211 PM MDT THU JUN 12 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     NORTHERN DOUGLAS AND SOUTHWESTERN ARAPAHOE

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     BEVERLY HILLS...CASTLE ROCK...GREENWOOD VILLAGE...HIGHLANDS
     RANCH...LOUVIERS...PARKER...SEDALIA...SURREY RIDGE AND THE
     PINERY

AT 204 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER BEVERLY HILLS...OR ABOUT 21
MILES SOUTH OF DENVER.

THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15MILES 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 3947 10463 3929 10492 3940 10509 3965 10492
GARD...WSFO DENVER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 12, 2:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	41 min
Jun 12, 2:36 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Weld	39 min
Jun 12, 2:55 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Denver, Weld	50 min
Jun 12, 3:37 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Weld	38 min
Jun 12, 3:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	41 min
Jun 12, 4:27 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	48 min
Jun 12, 5:13 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Morgan, Weld	47 min
Jun 12, 5:24 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert	36 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.