Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 28, 2002Weld County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 28, 2002, 7:39 PM MDT for Weld County, Colorado. It was in force for 51 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 28, 2002, 7:39 PM MDT (01:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 28, 2002, 8:30 PM MDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Weld County, CO

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:38 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 28, 8:00 PM MDTTornado F0Hereford, COA tornado touched down briefly but did no damage.

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 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 141 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 00:00Z on 2002-08-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 233 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 00:00Z on 2002-08-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -70 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
233 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-169 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2250 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

901 
WFUS55 KBOU 290139
TORDEN
COC123-290230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
731 PM MDT WED AUG 28 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTH CENTRAL WELD COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 830 PM MDT

* AT 731 PM MDT...THE LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO 7 MILES 
NORTH NEAR BURNS...WYOMING...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM 
WILL CROSS THE COLORADO AND WYOMING BORDERS AFTER 745 PM. 

THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL ACROSS SOUTHEAST 
WYOMING AS WELL. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER 
IMMEDIATELY  

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...GROVER...
HEREFORD AND PAWNEE BUTTES.

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 4100 10446 4080 10424 4081 10384 4099 10385

SWE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 28, 7:09 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUWashington3 hr
Aug 28, 7:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington36 min
Aug 28, 8:30 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld45 min
Aug 28, 9:16 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan, Weld44 min
Aug 29, 3:12 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver, Douglas48 min
Aug 29, 3:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld63 min
Aug 29, 3:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld54 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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.