Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 31, 1997Elbert County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 31, 1997, 3:28 PM MDT for Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 31, 1997, 3:28 PM MDT (21:28 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 1997, 4:00 PM MDT
In force
32 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 21:30 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 nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 64 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 9 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
64 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-197 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1163 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 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.

000 
TTAA00 KDEN 312131 RRA
TORDEN
COC039-312200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
328 PM MDT THU JUL 31 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
     EAST CENTRAL ELBERT

AT 328 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER CENTRAL ELBERT COUNTY...OR
ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF LIMON.

THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 10 MILES PER HOUR.

VERY HEAVY RAIN IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.

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.

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE TORNADO WARNING ISSUED FOR CENTRAL 
ELBERT COUNTY AT 2657 PM MDT.

LESZCYNSKI

LAT...LON 3944 10383 3925 10383 3926 10400 3945 10400

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 6:35 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOULogan, Weld3 hr
Jul 30, 8:05 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUArapahoe, Denver115 min
Jul 31, 2:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert35 min
Jul 31, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln, Washington60 min
Jul 31, 4:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert60 min
Jul 31, 5:27 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUMorgan2 hr
Jul 31, 5:30 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOULogan, Washington3 hr
Jul 31, 5:30 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUDouglas2 hr

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.