Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 22, 2004Elbert County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Jul 22, 2004, 1:50 PM MDT for Elbert 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: Jul 22, 2004, 1:50 PM MDT (19:50 UTC)
Expired: Jul 22, 2004, 2:30 PM MDT
In force: 40 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), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:51 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
Jul 22, 1:35 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 115 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: 12 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -330 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2129 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 9 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 221950
TORBOU
COC039-222030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
149 PM MDT THU JUL 22 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 230 PM MDT

* AT 148 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES NORTH OF PONDEROSA
  PARK...OR ABOUT 19 MILES NORTHEAST OF CASTLE ROCK...MOVING SOUTH AT
  30 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...ELBERT...
ELIZABETH...KIOWA AND PONDEROSA PARK.

THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL UP TO ONE 
AND A QUARTER INCH IN DIAMETER...TORRENTIAL RAINS WITH MINOR 
FLOODING...AND A FEW FUNNEL CLOUDS.  THIS IS THE SAME THUNDERSTORM 
THAT HAS BEEN MOVING OVER THE AURORA AREA SINCE 100 PM.  THE STORM 
MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO WITH LITTLE ADVANCE WARNING. 

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 3955 10432 3956 10465 3916 10464 3915 10418

$$
DANKERS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 21, 7:51 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Washington	39 min
Jul 22, 12:54 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe, Denver	51 min
Jul 22, 1:22 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe, Denver	38 min
Jul 22, 3:32 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Lincoln	43 min
Jul 22, 4:05 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Lincoln	2 hr

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.