Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 312

May 28, 200112 counties in Colorado; 4 counties in New Mexico

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 28, 2001, 5:00 PM MDT for 12 counties in Colorado; 4 counties in New Mexico. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 28, 2001, 5:00 PM MDT (23:00 UTC)
Expired: May 28, 2001, 10:00 PM MDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Bent County, CO, Costilla County, CO, Crowley County, CO, Custer County, CO, El Paso County, CO, Fremont County, CO, Huerfano County, CO, Las Animas County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Otero County, CO, Pueblo County, CO, Teller County, CO, Colfax County, NM, Harding County, NM, Mora County, NM, Union County, NM

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:04 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.

Warnings issued inside it

15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 28, 5:14 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Las Animas	91 min
May 28, 5:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Pueblo	60 min
May 28, 6:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert, Lincoln	45 min
May 28, 6:28 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	El Paso	62 min
May 28, 7:01 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Las Animas	119 min
May 28, 7:23 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	El Paso	97 min
May 28, 7:26 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	PUB	El Paso	64 min
May 28, 8:21 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Lincoln	39 min
May 28, 8:24 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Fremont	96 min
May 28, 8:28 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	PUB	Las Animas	62 min
May 28, 8:30 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	PUB	El Paso	60 min
May 28, 8:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	El Paso	71 min
May 28, 8:59 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Lincoln	31 min
May 28, 9:18 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	PUB	El Paso	57 min
May 28, 9:35 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert, Lincoln	40 min

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 247 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1725 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 42 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 
WWUS9 KMKC 282303
SEL2  

SEL2  
MKC WW 282254
COZ000-NMZ000-290400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 312
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
454 PM MDT MON MAY 28 2001

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHEAST COLORADO                           
   NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO                         

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 500 PM UNTIL 1000
PM MDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 60 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF COLORADO SPRINGS COLORADO TO
50 MILES EAST OF LAS VEGAS NEW MEXICO.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 310...WW 311...

DISCUSSION...SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE THIS
EVENING IN ZONE OF MODERATE /20 KT/ LOW LEVEL SELY FLOW OVER THE
SRN HI PLNS.  DEEP LAYER SHEAR EXPECTED TO INCREASE OVER REGION
DURING NEXT FEW HOURS AS 50+ KT MID LEVEL SPEED MAX ASSOCIATED WITH
NRN AZ UPPER TROUGH OVERSPREADS REGION.  SURFACE DEWPOINTS IN THE
UPPER 50S ARE CONTRIBUTING TO CAPE AROUND 2000 J/KG...AND LOW
CLOUDS HAVE KEPT TEMPERATURE/DEW POINT SPREADS FAIRLY SMALL.   

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030.

...CORFIDI

;390,1030 353,1030 353,1053 390,1053;

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2001 Tornado Watches in New Mexico, 2001 Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.