Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 9, 2004Washington County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 9, 2004, 6:00 PM MDT for Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 45 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 9, 2004, 6:00 PM MDT (00:00 UTC)
Expired: Aug 9, 2004, 6:45 PM MDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Washington County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:01 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 nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 33 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: 2151 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1371 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 245 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 10.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS55 KBOU 100000
TORBOU
COC121-100045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
559 PM MDT MON AUG 9 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 645 PM MDT

* AT 559 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 9 MILES SOUTH OF LAST
  CHANCE...OR ABOUT 24 MILES NORTH OF LIMON...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO...LAST
CHANCE AND LINDON.

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 WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR WASHINGTON 
COUNTY.  

LAT...LON 3974 10367 3958 10367 3958 10330 3974 10333

$$
RTG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 9, 6:13 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Elbert	47 min
Aug 9, 6:31 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Arapahoe	59 min
Aug 9, 6:46 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Lincoln, Washington	44 min
Aug 9, 6:52 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Elbert	38 min
Aug 9, 7:09 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Washington	36 min
Aug 9, 7:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert, Lincoln	64 min
Aug 9, 8:31 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Lincoln	29 min
Aug 9, 8:50 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Lincoln	40 min
Aug 9, 9:00 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Lincoln	45 min
Aug 10, 2:48 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Larimer, Weld	57 min
Aug 10, 3:04 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Larimer, Weld	41 min
Aug 10, 3:44 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Weld	46 min
Aug 10, 4:31 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Larimer, Weld	49 min
Aug 10, 4:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Boulder	41 min
Aug 10, 5:06 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Broomfield, Denver	39 min
Aug 10, 5:16 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Broomfield, Denver	44 min
Aug 10, 5:32 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Broomfield, Denver	43 min
Aug 10, 5:39 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Boulder	36 min
Aug 10, 5:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	45 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.