Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Goodland, KS

October 8, 1997Kit Carson County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Oct 8, 1997, 11:44 AM MDT for Kit Carson 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
Oct 8, 1997, 11:44 AM MDT (17:44 UTC)
Expired
Oct 8, 1997, 12:45 PM MDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Kit Carson County, CO

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:49 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
Oct 8, 12:10 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 55Burlington Arpt, 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 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 83 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 1997-10-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1997-10-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -102 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1246 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
85 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-42 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 KGLD 081745 RRA
TORGLD
COC063-081845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1144 AM MDT WED OCT 8 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  CENTRAL KIT CARSON COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO

* UNTIL 1245 PM MDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  STRATTON                                AROUND 1150 AM MDT
  BETHUNE                                 AROUND 1155 AM MDT
  BURLINGTON                              AROUND 1210 PM MDT
  HWY 385...9 MILES SOUTH OF BURLINGTON   AROUND 1215 PM MDT

* AT 1146 AM MDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED A TORNADO 17
  MILES WEST OF BURLINGTON OR 1 MILE NORTH OF STRATTON MOVING EAST AT
  30 MPH.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM| ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

MARTELLO

The office that day

Everything else NWS Goodland, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 8, 11:27 AM MDTTornado WarningGLDYuma33 min
Oct 8, 11:56 AM MDTTornado WarningGLDYuma49 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.