Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Pueblo, CO

August 9, 2002Bent County, Prowers County, Colorado

NWS Pueblo, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 9, 2002, 6:51 PM MDT for Bent County, Prowers County, Colorado. It was in force for 99 min. 2 reports 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 9, 2002, 6:51 PM MDT (00:51 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 2002, 8:30 PM MDT
In force
99 min
Issued by
NWS Pueblo, CO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Bent County, CO, Prowers County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 148 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:52 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 9, 7:10 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 60 EMc Clave, COA thunderstorm wind gust blew a semi-trailer off Highway 50.
Aug 9, 7:12 PM MDTThunderstorm Wind 56 MLamar Arpt, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 9, 3:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 203 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 2002-08-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1040 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 2002-08-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1040 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-123 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2309 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

775 
WFUS55 KPUB 100051
TORPUB
COC011-099-100230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
651 PM MDT FRI AUG 9 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PUEBLO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BENT COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO
  PROWERS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 830 PM MDT

* AT 651 PM MDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED THAT A
  RAPIDLY ROTATING THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO WAS 8
  MILES NORTHWEST OF WILEY...OR ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAMAR...
  MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED WILL BE...
  WILEY AROUND 705 PM MDT
  LAMAR AROUND 725 PM MDT

AT 650 PM A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOTTER SAW A TORNADO IN 
EXTREME NORTHWEST PROWERS COUNTY.

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING THAT
WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA.

IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS...OR IN A MOBILE HOME...OR IN A VEHICLE...AND A
TORNADO IS VERY NEAR...GO TO A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING AND GET IN
AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3826 10256 3826 10298 3779 10248 3805 10211

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pueblo, CO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 6:19 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBKiowa71 min
Aug 9, 6:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent, Prowers118 min
Aug 9, 7:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBCrowley, Otero86 min
Aug 9, 7:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent83 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.