Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 357

May 30, 20057 counties in Colorado; 5 counties in New Mexico; Cimarron County, Oklahoma

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 30, 2005, 1:30 PM MDT for 7 counties in Colorado; 5 counties in New Mexico; Cimarron County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 30, 2005, 1:30 PM MDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 2005, 9:00 PM MDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Baca County, CO, Bent County, CO, Crowley County, CO, Las Animas County, CO, Otero County, CO, Prowers County, CO, Pueblo County, CO, Colfax County, NM, Harding County, NM, Mora County, NM, San Miguel County, NM, Union County, NM, Cimarron County, OK

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 214 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:31 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

19 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 3:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQMora42 min
May 30, 4:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent, Las Animas55 min
May 30, 4:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBLas Animas61 min
May 30, 4:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQColfax31 min
May 30, 4:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBaca, Bent, Las Animas65 min
May 30, 5:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQSan Miguel43 min
May 30, 5:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQSan Miguel48 min
May 30, 5:42 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBBaca, Las Animas50 min
May 30, 5:46 PM MDTTornado WarningABQSan Miguel29 min
May 30, 6:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQHarding54 min
May 30, 6:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBaca, Las Animas64 min
May 30, 6:59 PM MDTTornado WarningABQHarding, Quay46 min
May 30, 7:12 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBBaca, Las Animas65 min
May 30, 7:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQUnion50 min
May 30, 7:44 PM MDTTornado WarningABQHarding, Quay50 min
May 30, 7:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBOtero71 min
May 30, 7:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBaca34 min
May 30, 8:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningABQUnion46 min
May 30, 8:38 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent91 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 259 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2005-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 105 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 2005-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -7 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
105 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
928 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 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 
WWUS20 KWNS 301931
SEL7  
SPC WW 301931
COZ000-NMZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-310300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 357
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
230 PM CDT MON MAY 30 2005

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       SOUTHEAST COLORADO
       NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO
       WESTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE
       WESTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 230 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF LA JUNTA
COLORADO TO 60 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF LAS VEGAS NEW MEXICO.  FOR
A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

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 356...

DISCUSSION...DESTABILIZATION ONGOING E OF MOUNTAINS SERN CO/NERN NM
AHEAD OF VIGOROUS UPPER TROUGH.  SHEAR PROFILES BECOMING FAVORABLE
FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERCELLS. INTIMAL STORMS FORMING OVER HIGHER
TERRAIN AND THEN WILL MOVE INTO FAVORABLE CONDITIONS TO BECOME
SEVERE ACROSS WATCH AREA.  ALONG WITH VERY LARGE HAIL...ISOLATED
TORNADOES ARE LIKELY WITH ANY SUPERCELL.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030.


...HALES

382,1020 351,1025 351,1052 382,1043

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 9:39 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDelta, Dolores, Garfield, Mesa, Moffat, Montrose and 3 more2 hr
May 30, 10:32 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Huerfano, Las Animas, Mineral and 2 more118 min
May 30, 10:45 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCArchuleta, Conejos, Delta, Dolores, Garfield, Gunnison and 15 more6 hr
May 30, 12:33 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDelta, Dolores, Garfield, Gunnison, Hinsdale, La Plata and 9 more117 min
May 30, 4:45 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Las Animas, Otero and 2 more2 hr
May 30, 4:57 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Elbert, El Paso, Kit Carson and 8 more63 min
May 30, 5:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Elbert, El Paso, Kiowa, Lincoln and 3 more7 hr
May 30, 2:05 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChaves, De Baca, Lincoln, Otero115 min
May 30, 5:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCChaves, Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Quay, Roosevelt6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2005Tornado Watches in New Mexico, 2005Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2005Every tornado watch 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.