Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

April 29, 2003Lincoln County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Apr 29, 2003, 4:55 PM MDT for Lincoln County, Colorado. It was in force for 50 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
Apr 29, 2003, 4:55 PM MDT (22:55 UTC)
Expired
Apr 29, 2003, 5:45 PM MDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Lincoln County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:55 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
Apr 29, 3:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 59 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 2003-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 44 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 2003-04-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 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
44 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-257 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1226 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 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.

596 
WFUS55 KBOU 292255
TORBOU
COC073-292345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
454 PM MDT TUE APR 29 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO

* UNTIL 545 PM MDT

* AT 454 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR ARRIBA...OR ABOUT 21
  MILES EAST OF LIMON...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...ARRIBA.

THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING THAT WAS ISSUED FOR 
THE SAME AREA AT 437 PM MDT.

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 3944 10349 3917 10350 3921 10319 3947 10317

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 28, 6:09 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan31 min
Apr 28, 7:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams60 min
Apr 28, 8:00 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Morgan45 min
Apr 28, 8:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver57 min
Apr 28, 8:49 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams41 min
Apr 28, 9:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWashington57 min
Apr 28, 10:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams19 min
Apr 28, 10:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Washington56 min
Apr 29, 3:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams42 min
Apr 29, 4:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUDouglas45 min
Apr 29, 4:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams32 min
Apr 29, 4:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld66 min
Apr 29, 4:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln57 min
Apr 29, 4:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert62 min
Apr 29, 5:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams56 min
Apr 29, 5:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld64 min
Apr 29, 5:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld57 min
Apr 29, 5:38 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUJefferson37 min
Apr 29, 5:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Denver, Douglas47 min
Apr 29, 5:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Elbert61 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.