Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 50, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 2, 2001Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 2001, 3:18 PM MDT for Adams County, Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 27 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: Aug 2, 2001, 3:18 PM MDT (21:18 UTC)
Expired: Aug 2, 2001, 3:45 PM MDT
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 2, 3:26 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Bennett, CO	A small tornado touched down but did no damage.
Aug 2, 3:30 PM MDT	Hail 1.75	Watkins, 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

Grand Junction, CO (KGJT), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 349 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -273 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1861 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS55 KBOU 022120
TORDEN
COC001-005-022145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
318 PM MDT THU AUG 2 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL ADAMS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
  NORTH CENTRAL ARAPAHOE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 345 PM MDT

* AT 318 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MANILA
  VILLAGE...OR ABOUT 26 MILES EAST OF DENVER...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20
  MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...
NORTHEASTERN AURORA...BENNETT...MANILA VILLAGE AND WATKINS.

A SPOTTER REPORTED SEVERAL LANDSPOUTS JUST NORTHWEST OF THE BENNETT 
AREA AT 315 PM. TORNADOES AND HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER CAN BE 
EXPECTED WTH THIS STORM. 

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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.

LAT...LON 3976 10464 3970 10448 3980 10431 3993 10455

SWE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 1, 6:13 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert	47 min
Aug 1, 6:46 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Washington	29 min
Aug 1, 6:55 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Lincoln	35 min
Aug 1, 7:20 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Lincoln, Washington	40 min
Aug 1, 7:35 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Washington	25 min
Aug 1, 7:48 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Washington	27 min
Aug 1, 8:01 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Washington	29 min
Aug 1, 8:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Lincoln	30 min
Aug 1, 8:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Washington	31 min
Aug 1, 9:40 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Phillips, Sedgwick	50 min
Aug 2, 2:53 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Adams, Weld	2 hr
Aug 2, 3:47 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Adams	43 min
Aug 2, 4:42 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	38 min
Aug 2, 5:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	41 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2001 Every tornado warning in 2001 Tornadoes in 2001

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.