Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 10, 2004Elbert County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 10, 2004, 7:26 PM MDT for Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 64 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 10, 2004, 7:26 PM MDT (01:26 UTC)
Expired: May 10, 2004, 8:30 PM MDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Elbert County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:28 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 10, 7:52 PM MDT	TORNADO	Cedar Point, CO	CROSSED INTERSTATE 70. NO DAMAGE.
May 10, 7:52 PM MDT	TORNADO	Cedar Point, CO	CROSSED INTERSTATE 70. NO DAMAGE.

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 10, 3:00 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 88 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: 1849 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1895 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 197 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 358 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 17.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

881 
WFUS55 KBOU 110126
TORBOU
COC039-110230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
724 PM MDT MON MAY 10 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 830 PM MDT

* AT 724 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF AGATE...
  OR ABOUT 20 MILES WEST OF LIMON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

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

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND POTENTIALLY LIFE THREATENING
SITUATION. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE
TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE EARLIER TORNADO WARNING FOR CENTRAL ELBERT 
COUNTY. THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORNADOES AND 
LARGE HAIL. 

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE
IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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.


LAT...LON 3926 10426 3924 10375 3956 10372 3957 10419

$$

ENTREKIN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 10, 6:13 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Weld	32 min
May 10, 6:25 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Elbert	65 min
May 10, 8:32 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Arapahoe, Elbert, Lincoln, Washington	58 min
May 10, 9:14 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Arapahoe, Washington	46 min
May 10, 9:25 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Logan, Phillips	35 min
May 10, 9:37 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Washington	53 min
May 10, 10:02 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick	58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes in 2004

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.