Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 8, 2003Morgan County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 8, 2003, 12:50 PM MDT for Morgan County, Colorado. It was in force for 40 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 8, 2003, 12:50 PM MDT (18:50 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2003, 1:30 PM MDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Morgan County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:49 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 8, 12:30 PM MDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 56 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 2003-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-152 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
830 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
98 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.

404 
WFUS55 KBOU 081850
TORBOU
COC087-081930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1249 PM MDT THU MAY 8 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN MORGAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF FORT MORGAN

* UNTIL 130 PM MDT

* AT 1249 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF ADENA
  SCHOOL...OR ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF FORT MORGAN...MOVING EAST
  AT 10 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...ADENA
SCHOOL...BRUSH...FORT MORGAN...GARY AND TWELVE-MILE CORNER.

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 4026 10390 4006 10390 4005 10351 4027 10351

LESZCYNSKI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 10:04 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld56 min
May 8, 11:13 AM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams17 min
May 8, 11:52 AM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Denver38 min
May 8, 12:10 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld35 min
May 8, 1:12 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan, Washington48 min
May 8, 1:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington37 min
May 8, 2:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln44 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.