Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 17, 2000Logan County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2000, 3:43 PM MDT for Logan County, Colorado. It was in force for 47 min. 2 reports came from 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, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2000, 3:43 PM MDT (21:43 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2000, 4:30 PM MDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Logan County, CO

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 142 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:45 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 17, 3:47 PM MDTTornado F0Dailey, CO
May 17, 4:00 PM MDTTornado F1Fleming, COA small tornado touched down, damaging some weather equipment and several nearby structures.

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 nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 2000-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 439 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2000-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 135 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
439 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-205 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1040 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
205 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

693 
WFUS55 KBOU 172145
TORDEN
COC075-172230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
343 PM MDT WED MAY 17 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL LOGAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF STERLING

* UNTIL 430 PM MDT

* AT 343 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES OVER CENTRAL  
  PORTIONS OF LOGAN COUNTY.  AT 340 PM MDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED IN 
  THE TOWN OF DAILEY NEAR THE LOGAN-PHILLIPS COUNTY LINE.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...
STERLING...WILLARD...WESTPLAINS...ST PETERSBURG...PROCTOR...PAWNEE
PASS...PADRONI...NORTH STERLING RESERVOIR...LOGAN CORNERS...ILIFF...
FLEMING...CROOK AND ATWOOD

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING 
SITUATION. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF TORNADOES...TAKE COVER 
IMMEDIATELY.

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 4091 10355 4052 10356 4055 10268 4090 10266

KLEYLA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 9:03 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUBoulder, Larimer27 min
May 17, 9:29 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson41 min
May 17, 9:29 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Denver41 min
May 17, 10:32 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Denver, Jefferson43 min
May 17, 10:32 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUDouglas43 min
May 17, 10:43 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer62 min
May 17, 12:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUBoulder, Jefferson41 min
May 17, 12:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver41 min
May 17, 12:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUDouglas41 min
May 17, 12:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld30 min
May 17, 12:50 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan, Washington40 min
May 17, 1:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld48 min
May 17, 1:30 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan, Washington45 min
May 17, 1:42 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan, Weld48 min
May 17, 2:00 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe45 min
May 17, 2:17 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULogan, Morgan, Washington43 min
May 17, 2:55 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUPhillips35 min
May 17, 2:59 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULogan, Morgan46 min
May 17, 3:24 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUPhillips36 min
May 17, 3:56 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUPhillips, Sedgwick34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2000Every tornado warning in 2000Tornadoes in 2000

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.