Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Goodland, KS

May 31, 1999Kit Carson County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1999, 4:40 PM MDT for Kit Carson County, Colorado. It was in force for 50 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: May 31, 1999, 4:40 PM MDT (22:40 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1999, 5:30 PM MDT
In force: 50 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 22:41 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 31, 5:21 PM MDT	Hail 1.75	Vona, 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 31, 3:00 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 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-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: 9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -409 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 738 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 82 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 312240 RRA
TORGLD
COC063-312330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
440 PM MDT MON MAY 31 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 530 PM MDT

* AT 438 PM MDT... GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO 31 MILES NORTHWEST OF CHEYENNE WELLS OR 14 MILES SOUTH OF
  SEIBERT... MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT...
RURAL RESIDENTS AND MOTORISTS IN THE WARNED AREA

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE PREVIOUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
KIT CARSON COUNTY.

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

$LOCKHART

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 31, 2:31 PM MDT, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 2:31 PM MDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
225 PM MDT (325 PM CDT) MON MAY 31 1999

...CHALLENGES IN FIRST PD...TYPE...SEVERITY AND AMOUNT OF PRECIP...

SAT PICS AND 18Z SFC MAP SHOW STUBBORN LOW CLOUDINESS HANGING ON
OVER ENTIRE CWA. RESULT...TEMPS OVER ENTIRE CWA STILL IN 50S AND LOW
60S. SAT PICS SHOW PARTIAL CLEARING ADVANCING INTO FAR EASTERN CO
ATTM...BUT SLOWLY. GLD 88D VWP SHOWS STEADY WINDS UP TO 25K...SO
LOTS OF CLOUDS STILL UP THERE. HOWEVER SHOULD SEE PARTIAL CLEARING
WITHING NEXT FEW HOURS TO ALLOW AT LEAST SOME PM HEATING. THIS AM
88D VWP SHOWED NOTICEABLE HT VEERING CONTRIBUTING TO HELICITY.
HOWEVER AT CURRENT TIME DIRECTION CHANGE WITH HT DECREASING BUT
SPEED CHANGE INCREASING WITH HT WITH NEAR 60 KT JET AT 25K ATTM.

ETA INITIALIZED BEST AT SFC AND 50H THIS AM SO AM GOING WITH IT.
WITH ALL OF CWA STILL IN SLIGHT RISK BUT CLOUDINESS HOLDING TEMPS
DOWN THROUGH THE AFTERNOON KEEPING LOWER LEVELS SOMEWHAT STABLE
CHALLENGE BECOMES WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO TSTMS THAT DEVELOP IN CO AND
MOVE INTO AREA THIS EVENING. ETA BRINGS VORT MAX INTO NW KS IN LATE
EVENING AND MOVES E ACROSS NRN PTN OF CWA. THINK THIS WILL INSTIGATE
TSTMS IN NE CO WHICH...AS THEY MOVE ENE INTO MORE MOISTURE LADEN
AIR...WILL RESULT IN MCC/MCS DEVELOPMENT NEAR NE PTN OF MY CWA(NEAR
NC KS/SC NEB BORDER AFTER MID-NIGHT). ETA WOULD KEEP COLDER AIR
ALOFT JUST TO NORTH OF MY CWA. ALSO APPEARS MDT RISK TO STAY S OF MY
CWA WITH HEAVIER STORMS TO DEVELOP IN SE CO AS RESULT OF ANOTHER
VORT MAX IN THAT AREA TO MOVE INTO AREAS JUST S OF CWA.

REGARDLESS WITH PLENTIFUL MOISTURE AVAILABLE...ETA MOVING MOD VORT
MAX ACROSS NRN PTN CWA DURING NIGHT WITH UVV MAX MOVING ACROSS AREA
WITH IT...LOOK FOR TSTM NIGHT WITH MAX NUMBER AND RAINFALL E OF A
LINE FROM NEAR TRENTON NEB TO VCNTY QUINTER KS. DRIER AIR SWEEPS
INTO CWA FROM NW ON TUES AS UPPER S/W MOVES INTO E KS. SUBSIDENCE
AND BRIEF RIDGE APPEARS WILL MOVE IN AND BRING FAIR WEATHER TO CWA
INTO WEDS. ON WEDS BEGIN TO SEE INCREASING SOUTHERLY WINDS AND
RETURN OF CHANCE OF LATE PM/EARLY EVEN TSTMS AS SW FLOW ALOFT
RETURNS TO AREA.

IN EXTENDED LONG WAVE INTENSIFIES OVER INTRA-MT WEST WITH SW FLOW
ALOFT OVER HIGH PLAINS. OCCASIONAL S/WS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF L/W OVER
THE PD RESULT IN CHANCE OF TSTMS THROUGHOUT PD AND NEAR NORMAL
TEMPS.

.GLD...NONE.

RJC

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 31, 2:59 PM MDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before

COZ091-092-010255-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
259 PM MDT MON MAY 31 1999

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM 3 PM MDT UNTIL 9 PM MDT FOR
EXTREME EAST CENTRAL COLORADO...

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN THIS WATCH...

     IN EXTREME EAST CENTRAL COLORADO...CHEYENNE AND KIT CARSON.

THIS INCLUDES...BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
     FLAGLER...SEIBERT...STRATTON...BURLINGTON...WILD HORSE...
     KIT CARSON...AND CHEYENNE WELLS.

WHEN SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS IN AN
INTERIOR SMALL ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWER FLOOR OF A BUILDING.

THEDE

Local storm report, May 31, 4:30 PM MDT, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
430 PM MDT MON MAY 31 1999

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0426 PM    5 S SEIBERT               CO    1 INCH HAIL
05/31/99   KIT CARSON

SVEN

Local storm report, May 31, 4:30 PM MDT, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
430 PM MDT MON MAY 31 1999

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0426 PM    5 S SEIBERT               CO    1 INCH HAIL
05/31/99   KIT CARSON

SVEN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 6:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Kit Carson	45 min
May 31, 3:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Kit Carson	60 min
May 31, 5:27 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GLD	Kit Carson	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes in 1999

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.