Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 17, 2000Morgan County, Washington County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2000, 1:30 PM MDT for Morgan County, Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 45 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, 1:30 PM MDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2000, 2:15 PM MDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Morgan County, CO, Washington County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:30 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, 2:00 PM MDTTornado F0Platner, CO
May 17, 2:15 PM MDTTornado F0Platner, 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 nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 44 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°0°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.

593 
WFUS55 KBOU 171936 COR
TORDEN
COC087-121-172015-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS EXTENDED THE 

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN MORGAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
  NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF AKRON

* UNTIL 215 PM MDT

* AT 128 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH SEVERAL TORNADOES FROM ABOUT 7 
  MILES EAST OF AKRON TO 8 MILES SOUTH OF FORT MORGAN.  SEVERAL
  TORNADOES HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THIS AREA...WITH SOME PRODUCING
  STRUCTURAL DAMAGE.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...
TWELVE-MILE CORNER...SNYDER...PLATNER...OTIS...MIDWAY...LONE STAR...
HILLROSE...GARY...BURDETT...BRUSH...AKRON...ADENA SCHOOL AND ADENA.

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 4019 10382 4001 10394 4012 10281 4043 10280
          4042 10356

BARJENBRUCH

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, 1:42 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, 3:43 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULogan47 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.