Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Pueblo, CO

May 24, 1998Otero County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1998, 6:28 PM MDT for Otero County, Colorado. It was in force for 57 min. 7 reports 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: May 24, 1998, 6:28 PM MDT (00:28 UTC)
Expired: May 24, 1998, 7:25 PM MDT
In force: 57 min
Issued by: NWS Pueblo, CO
Area: Whole counties

County Otero County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:31 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 24, 6:35 PM MDT	Tornado F1	La Junta, CO	A narrow tornado and 80 to 100 mph straight-line winds downed power lines... damaged several grain bins and storage silos...uprooted large trees...shattered some windows...and partially ripped off some roofs in the rural Star Valley area west of La Junta. A l
May 24, 6:37 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Rocky Ford, CO
May 24, 6:41 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	La Junta, CO
May 24, 6:45 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 71	La Junta, CO	Damaging straight-line winds moved through mainly northern La Junta. Hardest hit was the Fair View Cemetery, on the northwest side of town, where about 25 large trees were damaged or uprooted. Spotty roof and sign damage occurred on the north side of La Junt
May 24, 6:48 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	La Junta, CO
May 24, 6:52 PM MDT	Hail 1	La Junta Arpt, CO
May 24, 6:52 PM MDT	Thunderstorm Wind 73	La Junta Arpt, CO	Damaging winds moved through the industrial park and airport complex north of La Junta. Several windows were blown out of the municipal golf course clubhouse. A partially erected building in the complex was destroyed. The roof of a restroom facility was blo

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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 24, 1:00 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 223 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1315 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -141 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

667 
WFUS1 KPUB 250030 RRA
TORPUB
COC089-250125-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
628 PM MDT SUN MAY 24 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PUEBLO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  OTERO COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO

* UNTIL 725 PM MDT

* AT 624 PM MDT...RADAR SHOWED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTH
  OF ROCKY FORD MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED WILL BE HIGHWAY 10 BETWEEN HAWLEY AND LA
JUNTA THROUGH 7 PM MDT.  IF YOU ARE IN OR CLOSE TO THE WARNED AREA
GO TO SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  A
BASEMENT OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION.  ABANDON VEHICLES AND MOBILE
HOMES FOR A DITCH...CULVERT OR REINFORCED BUILDING.  THIS IS A VERY
DANGEROUS STORM.

JK/MM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pueblo, CO issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 24, 6:07 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Crowley, Otero	58 min
May 24, 6:14 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Bent	61 min
May 24, 6:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Kiowa	61 min
May 24, 7:14 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Bent	56 min
May 24, 7:20 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Prowers	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.