Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 17, 2000Logan County, Morgan County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2000, 2:59 PM MDT for Logan County, Morgan County, Colorado. It was in force for 46 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
May 17, 2000, 2:59 PM MDT (20:59 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2000, 3:45 PM MDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:03 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, 3:20 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 61 EFt Morgan, COStrong thunderstorm winds blew the windows out of a house and damaged a nearby barn.

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, 9.0 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-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.

187 
WFUS55 KBOU 172100 RRA
TORDEN
COC075-172145-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 345 PM MDT

* AT 259 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 8 MILES EAST OF ATWOOD...OR
  ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF STERLING...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 10 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...
STERLING...ST PETERSBURG...MERINO...LOGAN CORNERS...FLEMING AND
ATWOOD

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 4073 10347 4044 10345 4046 10269 4074 10268

KLEYLA
1 follow-up statement
317 
WFUS55 KBOU 172100 RRB
TORDEN
COC087-172145-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN MORGAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 345 PM MDT

* AT 259 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
  A TORNADO NEAR WELDONA...OR ABOUT 11 MILES NORTHWEST OF FORT       
  MORGAN...MOVING WEST AT 15 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...
WELDONA...ORCHARD...JACKSON RESERVOIR AND GOODRICH.

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 4038 10378 4051 10367 4050 10412 4028 10413

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, 1:30 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, 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.