Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 35, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 27, 1997, 4:57 PM MDT for Elbert County, Lincoln County, Colorado. It was in force for 33 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 27, 1997, 4:57 PM MDT (22:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 27, 1997, 5:30 PM MDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Elbert County, CO, Lincoln County, CO
The radar
The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:57 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 5:00 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Matheson, CO | |
| Jul 27, 5:16 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Limon, CO | Intense thunderstorm winds, heavy rain and golfball size hail hammered portions of eastern Elbert and northern Lincoln Counties. Microburst winds blew a semi-truck on its side and several cars were pushed to the side of the road. A 9-hr old boy was injured |
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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 96 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1981 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 43 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -24 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KDEN 272256 RRA
TORDEN
COC039-073-272330-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
457 PM MDT SUN JUL 27 1997
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES
IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
EAST CENTRAL ELBERT AND NORTH CENTRAL LINCOLN
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
GENOA...HUGO AND LIMON
AT 455 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 7 MILES WEST OF LIMON.
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 10 TO 15 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.
GARD...WSFO DENVER
LAT...LON 3908 10339 3918 10390 3938 10390 3945 10338^The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 27, 4:35 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | BOU | Jefferson | 85 min |
| Jul 27, 5:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 45 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.