Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 376

June 1, 199711 counties in Colorado; 8 counties in Nebraska; Goshen County, Laramie County, Wyoming

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 1, 1997, 4:45 PM MDT for 11 counties in Colorado; 8 counties in Nebraska; Goshen County, Laramie County, Wyoming. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jun 1, 1997, 4:45 PM MDT (22:45 UTC)
Expired: Jun 1, 1997, 11:00 PM MDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 21 counties

Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Phillips County, CO, Sedgwick County, CO, Washington County, CO, Weld County, CO, Yuma County, CO, Banner County, NE, Box Butte County, NE, Cheyenne County, NE, Deuel County, NE, Garden County, NE, Kimball County, NE, Morrill County, NE, Scotts Bluff County, NE, Goshen County, WY, Laramie County, WY

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:51 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.

Warnings issued inside it

8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 1, 5:17 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Morgan, Washington	33 min
Jun 1, 5:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Laramie	46 min
Jun 1, 5:48 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	CYS	Laramie	17 min
Jun 1, 5:57 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Banner, Kimball	33 min
Jun 1, 6:31 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Kimball	49 min
Jun 1, 6:50 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Cheyenne	45 min
Jun 1, 7:12 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Cheyenne	23 min
Jun 1, 7:38 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Cheyenne	37 min

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 137 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 38 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -458 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -16 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.

104 
WWUS9 KMKC 012207
SEL6  
MKC WW 012207
COZ000-NEZ000-WYZ000-020500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 376
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
407 PM MDT SUN JUN 1 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHEAST COLORADO                           
   WESTERN NEBRASKA PANHANDLE                           
   SOUTHEAST WYOMING                            

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 445 PM UNTIL 1100
PM MDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTH OF SCOTTSBLUFF NEBRASKA TO 20 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF LIMON COLORADO.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 374...WW 375...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OFF HIGHER TERRAIN ARE INCREASING
IN INTENSITY AS THEY ENCOUNTER VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER HIGH
PLAINS.  LOW LEVEL SSELY JET EXPECTED TO INCREASE THIS EVENING HIGH
PLAINS ENHANCING SHEAR PROFILES TO FAVOR SUPERCELLS AND ISOLD
TORNADOES.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 1/2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 32020.


...HALES

422,1021 390,1020 390,1044 422,1045

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 6:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Big Horn, Fremont, Hot Springs, Park, Sublette, Teton and 1 more	6 hr
Jun 1, 2:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Converse, Natrona, Niobrara, Weston	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Colorado, 1997 Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 1997 Tornado Watches in Wyoming, 1997 Every tornado watch 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.