Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 18, 2003Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 18, 2003, 3:43 PM MDT for Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 32 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: Aug 18, 2003, 3:43 PM MDT (21:43 UTC)
Expired: Aug 18, 2003, 4:15 PM MDT
In force: 32 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), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:47 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Aug 18, 1:55 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 61 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -132 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1390 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 30 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.

000 
WFUS55 KBOU 182143
TORBOU
COC005-182215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
343 PM MDT MON AUG 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 415 PM MDT

* AT 340 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF JOLLY RANCH...OR ABOUT 25 
MILES NORTH OF LIMON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

A SPOTTER 7 MILES WEST OF LAST CHANCE REPORTED A PERSISTENT FUNNEL 
CLOUD ASSOCIATED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM 

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...JOLLY
RANCH.

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.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL ALSO PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL.  A SMALL 
STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA.  RESIDENTS 
SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPID RISES ON STREAMS AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING 
AREAS. 

LAT...LON 3958 10399 3958 10373 3973 10372 3973 10399

$$
DANKERS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 18, 1:32 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Arapahoe, Douglas	43 min
Aug 18, 1:53 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Boulder, Larimer	37 min
Aug 18, 4:24 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Washington	36 min

Nearby

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