Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 2, 1997Weld County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1997, 3:56 PM MDT for Weld 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 2, 1997, 3:56 PM MDT (21:56 UTC)
Expired: Jun 2, 1997, 4:30 PM MDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Weld County, CO

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 2, 4:33 PM MDT	Hail 1	Briggsdale, 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 2, 2:00 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 137 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: 99 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 76 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

488 
WFUS1 KDEN 022159 RRA
TORDEN
COC123-022230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
356 PM MDT MON JUN 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     CENTRAL WELD

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     BRIGGSDALE AND PURCELL

AT 355 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES NORTH OF PURCELL...OR
ABOUT 21 MILES NORTHEAST OF GREELEY.

THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 20 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 4063 10418 4052 10466 4086 10473 4091 10429

KLEYLA

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 2, 12:16 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Logan, Washington	44 min
Jun 2, 2:10 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Larimer	35 min
Jun 2, 3:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	45 min
Jun 2, 4:35 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	40 min
Jun 2, 4:55 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Weld	35 min
Jun 2, 5:18 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Morgan, Weld	42 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.