Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 22, 1998Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1998, 3:21 PM MDT for Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 24 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
May 22, 1998, 3:21 PM MDT (21:21 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 1998, 3:45 PM MDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 7 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:25 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 22, 1:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 1998-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 105 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 1998-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
105 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
747 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 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.

413 
WFUS1 KDEN 222123 RRA
TORDEN
COC001-005-222145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
321 PM MDT FRI MAY 22 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
     SOUTH CENTRAL ADAMS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
     NORTH CENTRAL ARAPAHOE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 345 PM MDT

* AT 314 PM MDT...AMATEUR RADIO WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL   
  CLOUD 1 MILE SOUTHEAST OF WATKINS.  DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THE 
  ASSOCIATED THUNDERSTORM MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.  

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...MANILA VILLAGE AND WATKINS

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.



LAT...LON 3972 10468 3967 10459 3977 10448 3982 10458

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 6:13 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUPhillips, Sedgwick22 min
May 21, 6:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan45 min
May 21, 7:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld33 min
May 21, 8:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld39 min
May 21, 8:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan, Phillips35 min
May 21, 10:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld34 min
May 22, 11:56 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUBoulder, Jefferson34 min
May 22, 12:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUBoulder, Jefferson, Weld46 min
May 22, 12:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams46 min
May 22, 1:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld30 min
May 22, 1:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUBoulder, Larimer, Weld25 min
May 22, 1:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld45 min
May 22, 1:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer, Weld40 min
May 22, 1:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld34 min
May 22, 2:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver39 min
May 22, 2:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld45 min
May 22, 2:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld24 min
May 22, 2:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld45 min
May 22, 2:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe32 min
May 22, 3:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld40 min
May 22, 3:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Washington35 min
May 22, 4:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams34 min
May 22, 4:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan, Morgan, Washington30 min
May 22, 4:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington50 min
May 22, 4:46 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Washington44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.