Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 7, 2003Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 7, 2003, 2:39 PM MDT for Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 51 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 7, 2003, 2:39 PM MDT (20:39 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 2003, 3:30 PM MDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Arapahoe County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:38 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 87 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 2003-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2003-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 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.

773 
WFUS55 KBOU 072039
TORBOU
COC005-072130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
239 PM MDT WED MAY 7 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN ARAPAHOE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 330 PM MDT

* AT 239 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTH OF COUNTRY
  GARDENS...OR ABOUT 37 MILES EAST OF DENVER...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15
  MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...BYERS...
COUNTRY GARDENS...DEER TRAIL AND STRASBURG.

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.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3974 10436 3957 10438 3957 10398 3975 10401

KLEYLA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 3:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe39 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes in 2003

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.