Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 28, 1997Elbert County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 28, 1997, 7:55 PM MDT for Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 35 min. 1 report 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 28, 1997, 7:55 PM MDT (01:55 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1997, 8:30 PM MDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties

County Elbert County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:54 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
Jul 28, 7:55 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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 101 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 1997-07-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 733 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1997-07-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 90 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
733 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1050 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

614 
WFUS1 KDEN 290157 RRA
TORDEN
COC039-290230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
755 PM MDT MON JUL 28 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
     SOUTHEASTERN ELBERT

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     KUTCH

AT 755 PM MDT...THE ELBERT COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED A TORNADO ON 
COUNTY ROAD 197 NEAR KUTCH.  THIS WAS ABOUT 23 MILES SOUTH OF 
LIMON.  

THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 5 TO 10 MPH. 

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.

BARJENBRUCH

LAT...LON 3890 10374 3888 10398 3901 10390 3903 10378

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 6:41 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUAdams2 hr
Jul 28, 6:58 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUWeld2 hr
Jul 28, 9:40 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOULarimer2 hr
Jul 29, 3:50 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUArapahoe, Elbert40 min
Jul 29, 4:38 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUElbert112 min
Jul 29, 5:37 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUElbert113 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.