Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2005

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 15, 2005Elbert County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 15, 2005, 5:32 PM MDT for Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 28 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
May 15, 2005, 5:32 PM MDT (23:32 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2005, 6:00 PM MDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Elbert County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:36 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 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 90 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 2005-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2005-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1249 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 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 152332
TORBOU
COC039-160000-
/O.NEW.KBOU.TO.W.0005.050515T2332Z-050516T0000Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
532 PM MDT SUN MAY 15 2005

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 600 PM MDT

* AT 529 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER EAST
  CENTRAL ELBERT COUNTY...OR ABOUT 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIMON. THIS
  STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF THE
  WARNED COUNTY.

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 3927 10372 3927 10385 3905 10386 3905 10372

$$

RPK
2 follow-up statements
000 
WWUS55 KBOU 152345
SVSBOU

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
546 PM MDT SUN MAY 15 2005

COC039-160000-
/O.CON.KBOU.TO.W.0005.000000T0000Z-050516T0000Z/
ELBERT CO-
546 PM MDT SUN MAY 15 2005

...A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 600 PM MDT FOR EAST CENTRAL
ELBERT COUNTY...

AT 542 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO
INDICATE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO.  THIS
STORM WAS LOCATED OVER EAST CENTRAL ELBERT COUNTY...OR ABOUT 7 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF LIMON. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF THE
WARNED COUNTY.

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 3927 10372 3927 10385 3905 10386 3905 10372

$$

RPK
000 
WWUS55 KBOU 160000
SVSBOU

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
600 PM MDT SUN MAY 15 2005

COC039-160010-
/O.EXP.KBOU.TO.W.0005.000000T0000Z-050516T0000Z/
ELBERT CO-
600 PM MDT SUN MAY 15 2005

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR EAST CENTRAL ELBERT COUNTY EXPIRED AT 600
PM MDT...

THE THUNDERSTORM THAT PROMPTED THE WARNING HAS WEAKENED AND IS NO
LONGER EXPECTED TO PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER.

LAT...LON 3927 10372 3927 10385 3905 10386 3905 10372

$$

RPK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 4:38 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUElbert, Lincoln52 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2005Every tornado warning in 2005Tornadoes in 2005

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.