Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 21, 2000Washington County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 2000, 6:50 PM MDT for Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 25 min. 1 report 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
Jul 21, 2000, 6:50 PM MDT (00:50 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 2000, 7:15 PM MDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Washington County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:54 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
Jul 21, 7:17 PM MDTHail 0.88Lindon, 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 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 17 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 00:00Z on 2000-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 941 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 00:00Z on 2000-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -69 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
941 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3104 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-19 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

138 
WFUS55 KBOU 220051
TORDEN
COC121-220115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
650 PM MDT FRI JUL 21 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 715 PM MDT

* AT 650 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR ANTON...OR ABOUT 27 MILES
  SOUTH OF AKRON...MOVING SOUTH SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...
THURMAN...LINDON AND ANTON.

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

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 3982 10342 3957 10342 3958 10306 3981 10306

KLEYLA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 6:01 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan, Weld44 min
Jul 21, 6:17 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington43 min
Jul 21, 6:27 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan, Weld48 min
Jul 21, 7:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Morgan41 min
Jul 21, 7:18 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington27 min
Jul 21, 7:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUSedgwick39 min
Jul 21, 7:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln, Washington45 min
Jul 21, 7:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUPhillips, Sedgwick39 min
Jul 21, 11:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln46 min
Jul 22, 12:19 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln41 min
Jul 22, 12:56 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln34 min
Jul 22, 1:08 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe37 min
Jul 22, 1:36 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Elbert39 min
Jul 22, 2:12 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert, Lincoln33 min
Jul 22, 2:45 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln45 min
Jul 22, 5:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld41 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.