Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 159, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 21, 1998Douglas County, Elbert County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 21, 1998, 3:17 PM MDT for Douglas County, Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 43 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued
Aug 21, 1998, 3:17 PM MDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 1998, 4:00 PM MDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Douglas County, CO, Elbert County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:16 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, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 120 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 1998-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1998-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 21 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2002 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-22 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.

883 
WUUS1 KDEN 212119 RRA
SVRDEN
COC035-039-212200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
317 PM MDT FRI AUG 21 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
     NORTHWESTERN ELBERT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO
     NORTHEASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 400 PM MDT

* AT 316 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE PINERY...OR ABOUT
  28 MILES SOUTHEAST OF DENVER...MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES PER HOUR.

LARGE HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM...PUT YOUR CAR IN
A GARAGE AND MOVE TO A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.  HEAVY RAINS WITH THIS 
STORM WILL FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY.  DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED AREAS.

LAT...LON 3955 10467 3944 10468 3941 10433 3956 10442

BARJENBRUCH

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 21, 10:45 AM MDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-220600-

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1045 AM MDT FRI AUG 21 1998

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COLORADO COUNTIES

ADAMS     ARAPAHOE     BOULDER   CLEAR CREEK   DENVER       DOUGLAS
ELBERT    GILPIN       GRAND     JACKSON       JEFFERSON    LARIMER
LINCOLN   LOGAN        MORGAN    PARK          PHILLIPS     SEDGWICK
SUMMIT    WASHINGTON   WELD

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT PLAINS
WILL CONTINUE TO ALLOW TROPICAL MONSOONAL MOISTURE TO STREAM ACROSS
COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE
EMBEDDED IN THE MOIST FLOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT.  THIS
WILL ENHANCE THE FORMATION OF CONVECTIVE STORMS WELL INTO THE NIGHT.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN MOVE OFF THE MOUNTAINS
AND EASTERN FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON AND SPREAD OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS
LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  DUE TO RELATIVELY LIGHT WINDS
ALOFT AND HIGH PRECIPITIBLE WATERS THE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.  MAXIMUM POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORM RAINFALL MAY
TOTAL BETWEEN 2 AND 3 INCHES.  THIS AMOUNT OF RAIN MAY CAUSE SMALL
STREAM FLOODING AND URBAN STREET FLOODING.  A HIGH FREEZING LEVEL
SHOULD KEEP HAIL SIZE SMALL.  MOST STORMS WILL NOT BE SEVERE BUT ONE
OR TWO MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS ABOVE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WIND
CRITERIA OF 58 MPH.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED...BUT SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL
OR FLOODING REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

GARD...WSFO DENVER
Special weather statement, Aug 21, 10:45 AM MDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before
COZ030-032>050-220600-

SIGNIFICANT WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1045 AM MDT FRI AUG 21 1998

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COLORADO COUNTIES

ADAMS     ARAPAHOE     BOULDER   CLEAR CREEK   DENVER       DOUGLAS
ELBERT    GILPIN       GRAND     JACKSON       JEFFERSON    LARIMER
LINCOLN   LOGAN        MORGAN    PARK          PHILLIPS     SEDGWICK
SUMMIT    WASHINGTON   WELD

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT PLAINS
WILL CONTINUE TO ALLOW TROPICAL MONSOONAL MOISTURE TO STREAM ACROSS
COLORADO THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE
EMBEDDED IN THE MOIST FLOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT.  THIS
WILL ENHANCE THE FORMATION OF CONVECTIVE STORMS WELL INTO THE NIGHT.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AGAIN MOVE OFF THE MOUNTAINS
AND EASTERN FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON AND SPREAD OVER THE EASTERN PLAINS
LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  DUE TO RELATIVELY LIGHT WINDS
ALOFT AND HIGH PRECIPITIBLE WATERS THE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE
LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.  MAXIMUM POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORM RAINFALL MAY
TOTAL BETWEEN 2 AND 3 INCHES.  THIS AMOUNT OF RAIN MAY CAUSE SMALL
STREAM FLOODING AND URBAN STREET FLOODING.  A HIGH FREEZING LEVEL
SHOULD KEEP HAIL SIZE SMALL.  MOST STORMS WILL NOT BE SEVERE BUT ONE
OR TWO MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS ABOVE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WIND
CRITERIA OF 58 MPH.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED...BUT SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL
OR FLOODING REPORTS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

GARD...WSFO DENVER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 21, 4:19 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUArapahoe, Douglas, Elbert3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.