Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 20, 1997Sedgwick County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1997, 6:28 PM MDT for Sedgwick County, Colorado. It was in force for 47 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
Jun 20, 1997, 6:28 PM MDT (00:28 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1997, 7:15 PM MDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Sedgwick County, CO

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 177 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:32 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 20, 2:30 PM MDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 129 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 1997-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 138 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 1997-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 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
138 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3791 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

491 
WFUS1 KDEN 210029 RRA
TORDEN
COC115-210115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
628 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     WESTERN AND CENTRAL SEDGWICK

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     MARKS BUTTE...OVID AND SEDGWICK

AT 624 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
THUNDERSTORM WITH A TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTH OF SEDGWICK...OR ABOUT 14 
MILES SOUTHWEST OF JULESBURG.  IN ADDITION THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED 
GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL.

THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES PER HOUR.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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 4077 10228 4077 10246 4077 10262 4095 10262
          4099 10244 4098 10229

KLEYLA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 6:09 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUSedgwick51 min
Jun 20, 7:27 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULogan, Sedgwick48 min
Jun 20, 8:13 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULogan, Sedgwick32 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.