Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 550
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 20, 2003, 12:45 PM MDT for 24 counties in Colorado. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 20, 2003, 12:45 PM MDT (18:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 20, 2003, 8:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 24 counties
Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Baca County, CO, Bent County, CO, Cheyenne County, CO, Crowley County, CO, Denver County, CO, Douglas County, CO, El Paso County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Kiowa County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Las Animas County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Otero County, CO, Phillips County, CO, Prowers County, CO, Pueblo County, CO, Sedgwick County, CO, Washington County, CO, Weld County, CO, Yuma County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:47 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.
Warnings issued inside it
14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 2:06 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | El Paso, Pueblo | 54 min |
| Jun 20, 3:05 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan | 40 min |
| Jun 20, 3:17 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams | 43 min |
| Jun 20, 3:48 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Morgan | 57 min |
| Jun 20, 3:53 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Kiowa | 52 min |
| Jun 20, 4:19 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Cheyenne | 56 min |
| Jun 20, 4:41 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan | 64 min |
| Jun 20, 5:06 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 54 min |
| Jun 20, 5:51 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Yuma | 54 min |
| Jun 20, 5:53 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Logan | 52 min |
| Jun 20, 6:00 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 30 min |
| Jun 20, 6:01 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 29 min |
| Jun 20, 6:02 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Kit Carson | 58 min |
| Jun 20, 6:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick | 60 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 55 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1432 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -7 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -35 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 201847
SEL0
SPC WW 201845
COZ000-210200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 550
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1245 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN COLORADO
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1245 PM UNTIL 800
PM MDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF AKRON COLORADO TO 55
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF TRINIDAD COLORADO.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 547...WW 548...WW 549...
DISCUSSION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS/SUPERCELLS EXPECTED OVER WW
AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WHERE DEEP DIRECTIONAL/SPEED SHEAR
WILL INCREASE DOWNSTREAM FROM EJECTING/INCREASINGLY
NEGATIVELY-TILTED SRN STREAM IMPULSE CROSSING 4 CORNERS REGION.
FAIRLY RICH BOUNDARY LAYER MOISTURE AVAILABILITY AND LIKELY
SUSTAINED NATURE OF SUPERCELLS SUGGEST SOME THREAT FOR TORNADOES
DESPITE LIMITED LOW LEVEL DIRECTIONAL SHEAR.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24025.
...CORFIDI
405,1021 365,1020 365,1044 405,1050SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 12:17 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Garfield, Mesa, Moffat, Montrose, Rio Blanco, San Miguel | 118 min |
| Jun 20, 2:53 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Arapahoe, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Elbert and 8 more | 97 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2003Every tornado watch 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.