Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2000
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2000, 3:24 PM MDT for Phillips County, Colorado. It was in force for 36 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, 3:24 PM MDT (21:24 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 2000, 4:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Phillips County, CO
The radar
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:28 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 17, 3:43 PM MDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 M | Holyoke, CO | |
| May 17, 4:08 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Dailey, 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 109 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
504 WFUS55 KBOU 172125 TORDEN COC095-172200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 324 PM MDT WED MAY 17 2000 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... PHILLIPS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF HOLYOKE * UNTIL 400 PM MDT * AT 322 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES NORTH OF HIGHLAND CENTER...OR ABOUT 16 MILES WEST OF HOLYOKE...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS LOCATED 5 MILES SOUTH OF AMHERST MOVING NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH. LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...WAGES... PLEASANT VALLEY...PAOLI...HOLYOKE...HIGHLAND CENTER...HAXTUN AND AMHERST 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 10264 4048 10266 4048 10207 4073 10207 KLEYLA
The office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 9:03 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Boulder, Larimer | 27 min |
| May 17, 9:29 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Arapahoe, Douglas, Jefferson | 41 min |
| May 17, 9:29 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Denver | 41 min |
| May 17, 10:32 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Arapahoe, Denver, Jefferson | 43 min |
| May 17, 10:32 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Douglas | 43 min |
| May 17, 10:43 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Larimer | 62 min |
| May 17, 12:19 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Boulder, Jefferson | 41 min |
| May 17, 12:19 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Arapahoe, Denver | 41 min |
| May 17, 12:19 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Douglas | 41 min |
| May 17, 12:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan, Weld | 30 min |
| May 17, 12:50 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Morgan, Washington | 40 min |
| May 17, 1:12 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 48 min |
| May 17, 1:30 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Morgan, Washington | 45 min |
| May 17, 1:42 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Morgan, Weld | 48 min |
| May 17, 2:00 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Adams, Arapahoe | 45 min |
| May 17, 2:17 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Logan, Morgan, Washington | 43 min |
| May 17, 2:55 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Phillips | 35 min |
| May 17, 2:59 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Logan, Morgan | 46 min |
| May 17, 3:43 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Logan | 47 min |
| May 17, 3:56 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Phillips, Sedgwick | 34 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.