Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 5, 2002Arapahoe County, Denver County, Jefferson County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 2002, 4:50 PM MDT for Arapahoe County, Denver County, Jefferson County, Colorado. It was in force for 40 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 5, 2002, 4:50 PM MDT (22:50 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 2002, 5:30 PM MDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Arapahoe County, CO, Denver County, CO, Jefferson County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:52 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
Aug 5, 4:51 PM MDTHail 1Denver, 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 155 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 2002-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 336 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 2002-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
336 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-210 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1185 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 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.

236 
WUUS55 KBOU 052250
SVRDEN
COC005-031-059-052330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
450 PM MDT MON AUG 5 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN ARAPAHOE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
  SOUTHWESTERN DENVER COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF DENVER
  EAST CENTRAL JEFFERSON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 530 PM MDT

* AT 450 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN DENVER...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...WEST
CENTRAL CENTENNIAL...DENVER...ENGLEWOOD...EASTERN LAKEWOOD...
LITTLETON...SOUTHEASTERN WHEAT RIDGE...GREENWOOD VILLAGE AND
SHERIDAN.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG
BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY
FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

LAT...LON 3977 10514 3958 10513 3958 10486 3977 10487

KLEYLA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 4, 6:09 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan56 min
Aug 4, 7:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULogan54 min
Aug 4, 7:42 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOULogan3 hr
Aug 4, 8:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUSedgwick51 min
Aug 4, 9:58 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUSedgwick3 hr
Aug 5, 2:40 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUJefferson, Park3 hr
Aug 5, 3:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Denver48 min
Aug 5, 3:31 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUAdams, Denver2 hr
Aug 5, 4:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan55 min
Aug 5, 5:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld59 min
Aug 5, 5:48 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOULarimer117 min
Aug 5, 5:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld56 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Colorado, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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.