Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 13, 1997Elbert County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 13, 1997, 8:15 PM MDT for Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 30 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 13, 1997, 8:15 PM MDT (02:15 UTC)
Expired
Jun 13, 1997, 8:45 PM MDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Elbert County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:19 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
Jun 13, 8:35 PM MDTTornado F0Kutch, 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, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 109 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 1997-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 42 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 1997-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
42 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1375 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
119 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.

432 
WFUS1 KDEN 140216 RRA
TORDEN
COC039-140245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
815 PM MDT FRI JUN 13 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
     SOUTHEASTERN ELBERT

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     KUTCH

AT 812 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 7 MILES NORTH OF KUTCH...OR
ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIMON.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 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 3901 10373 3889 10373 3889 10392 3906 10396
          3910 10374

KLEYLA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 13, 6:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert48 min
Jun 13, 6:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert, Lincoln33 min
Jun 13, 6:30 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUWeld16 hr
Jun 13, 6:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln43 min
Jun 13, 7:07 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUElbert23 min
Jun 13, 7:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert45 min
Jun 13, 8:47 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUElbert, Lincoln43 min
Jun 13, 9:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln44 min
Jun 14, 3:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert42 min
Jun 14, 3:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUBoulder, Larimer35 min
Jun 14, 4:22 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer, Weld23 min
Jun 14, 4:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Elbert29 min
Jun 14, 4:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Washington29 min
Jun 14, 4:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver51 min
Jun 14, 4:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld30 min
Jun 14, 5:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Washington35 min
Jun 14, 5:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert35 min
Jun 14, 5:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver52 min
Jun 14, 5:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.