Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 83, NWS Goodland, KS

June 20, 1997Yuma County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 1997, 8:29 PM MDT for Yuma County, Colorado. It was in force for 61 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
Jun 20, 1997, 8:29 PM MDT (02:29 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1997, 9:30 PM MDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Yuma County, CO

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:31 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
Jun 20, 9:12 PM MDTHail 0.88Idalia, 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, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 70 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°0°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.

276 
WUUS1 KGLD 210230 RRA
SVRGLD
COC125-210330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
829 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN YUMA COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO

* UNTIL 930 PM MDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  IDALIA                                  AROUND 850 PM MDT
  BONNY RESERVOIR                         AROUND 905 PM MDT
  HALE                                    AROUND 910 PM MDT

* AT 828 PM MDT...GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 24 MILES NORTHWEST OF BURLINGTON OR 13 MILES SOUTHWEST
  OF IDALIA MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM CAPABLE OF DAMAGING WINDS STAY INDOORS
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

SKIPPER/STAVISH

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 20, 1:49 PM MDT, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 20, 1:49 PM MDT, 6 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
149 PM MDT (249 PM CDT) FRI JUN 20 1997

...FORECAST CHALLENGE TO BE T-STORMS CHCS AGAIN WITH TEMPS BEING A
SECONDARY CONCERN...

12Z MODEL RUNS INDICATE THAT THE ETA INITIALIZES WELL ON ALL LEVELS
WITH THE AVN AGREEING WITH THE ETA ALOFT. WILL GO WITH THE ETA JUST
DUE TO ITS SIMILARITY WITH THE AVN (WHICH HAS BEEN THE MODEL OF
CHOICE LATELY) AND ITS EXCELLENT HANDLING OF SFC FEATURES AND
OVERNIGHT LOWS.

SFC BOUNDARY CONTS TO REMAIN OVER THE CENTRAL PORTIONS OF CWA FROM
HLC TO TRB WITH A WEAK SFC LO LOCATED RIGHT OVR THE GLD-WLC AREA
ATTM. CONVERGENCE ALONG THIS BOUNDARY SHOULD HELP BE A FOCUS FOR
CNVCTN LATER THIS EVENING WITH UPSLOPE COMPONENT NOTED ALONG THE NEB
BORDER.

OTHER STORMS SHOULD BREAK OUT IN AREA OF DYNAMICS IN THE CYS-DEN
CORRIDOR AND MOVE MAINLY ENE WITH THE MEAN FLO. SOME OF THESE HAVE
THE POTENTIAL TO RIGHT TURN INTO OUR AREA AND FEEL SPCS OUTLINE
IS GOOD AFTER LOOKING AT CAPE...SR HEL AND LI PROGS. FEEL MAIN THREAT
MOST AREAS WILL BE STRONG...GUSTY WINDS ONCE AGAIN WITH INVERTED-V
SOUNDINGS UPSTREAM AND WET BULB 0 AROUND 10KFT.

SAT SHOULD BE SIMILAR TO TDY BY STARTING OUT MSTLY SUNNY WITH
SUBSIDENCE BEHIND CONVECTION...HOWEVER TEMPS SHOULD BE A LEAST A CAT
COOLER WITH E-NE FLO N OF SFC FRONT AND LO NEAR DDC. RESIDUAL
BOUNDARIES MAY EXIST FROM TONIGHT...THUS PUTTING IN WDLY SCT MENTION
NW AREAS. ANOTHER S/W PULLS OUT INTO NEB BY SAT NGT SETTING UP MORE
CONVECTION AGAIN. BY SUN...MID LVL RDG BEGINS TO AMPLIFY OVER THE
REGION HELPING TEMPS WARM BACK TO THE 90S WITH ISOLD T-STORMS
POSSIBLE LATE IN THE DAY.

LIKE FAN MOS REAL WELL AS IT HANDLES ZNL FLO TO THE N AND S/WS
WELL...THUS GIVING MORE REALISTIC POPS...TEMPS AND CLOUD CVR.

GLD  062/089/063/093 3-3  HLC  068/092/065/097 3-2
CBK  064/088/065/094 3-3  MCK  064/087/063/093 423
TRB  062/094/064/096 2-2  ITR  060/088/061/091 423

MARTELLO

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 20, 3:03 PM MDT, 5 hours 26 minutes before
COZ090-NEZ079>081-210305-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
303 PM MDT (403 PM CDT) FRI JUN 20 1997

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM MDT (10 PM CDT) FOR
NORTHERN YUMA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO AND DUNDY...HITCHCOCK AND
RED WILLOW COUNTIES OF EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...

STRONG DAYTIME HEATING ALONG WITH AMPLE LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE WILL HELP
IN INITIATING THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT. A
STATIONARY SURFACE BOUNDARY IS LOCATED OVER THE NEBRASKA/KANSAS
BORDER AND STRETCHES SOUTHWEST INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO. THE
STATIONARY FRONT WILL COMBINE WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING
OUT OF WYOMING THIS EVENING TO AID IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS. WIND PROFILES IN THIS AREA INDICATE THE POTENTIAL FOR
TORNADO DEVELOPMENT ALONG WITH WIND GUSTS APPROACHING 60 MPH.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES IN AND
NEAR THE WATCH AREA.

PEOPLE IN NORTHERN YUMA COUNTY COLORADO...DUNDY...HITCHCOCK AND RED
WILLOW COUNTIES OF SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA ARE IN THE TORNADO WATCH AREA.
MOVE INSIDE A STORM CELLAR...A BASEMENT...OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOUSE IF A TORNADO THREATENS.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED
AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...LIE DOWN IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO...CABLE TELEVISION...OR
TELEVISION FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION.

MARTELLO

&

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.