Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2006

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 31, 2006Arapahoe County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2006, 2:04 PM MDT for Arapahoe County, Colorado. It was in force for 26 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 31, 2006, 2:04 PM MDT (20:04 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2006, 2:30 PM MDT
In force: 26 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Arapahoe County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 22 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:01 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 31, 1:35 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 98 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: 28 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 877 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 102 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 312006
TORBOU
COC005-312030-
/O.NEW.KBOU.TO.W.0003.060531T2004Z-060531T2030Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
204 PM MDT WED MAY 31 2006

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL ARAPAHOE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 230 PM MDT

* AT 204 PM MDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 6
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF COUNTRY GARDENS...OR ABOUT 31 MILES EAST OF
  DENVER. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  STRASBURG...DEER TRAIL...COUNTRY GARDENS AND BYERS.

A SPOTTER AT GUN CLUB ROAD AND HAMPDEN REPORTED A BRIEF FUNNEL CLOUD 
ABOUT 4 MILES EAST OF HIS LOCATION.  THE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS ASSOCIATED 
WITH A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL ARAPAHOE 
COUNTY.  ADDITIONAL FUNNEL CLOUDS AND SHORT LIVED TORNADOES WILL BE 
POSSIBLE AS THESE STORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP.

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 3973 10455 3958 10458 3958 10402 3973 10401

$$

DANKERS

1 follow-up statement

000 
WWUS55 KBOU 312031
SVSBOU

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
230 PM MDT WED MAY 31 2006

COC005-312040-
/O.EXP.KBOU.TO.W.0003.000000T0000Z-060531T2030Z/
ARAPAHOE CO-
230 PM MDT WED MAY 31 2006

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR CENTRAL ARAPAHOE COUNTY EXPIRED AT 230 PM
MDT...

THE THUNDERSTORM THAT PROMPTED THE WARNING HAS WEAKENED.  IT IS 
STILL POSSIBLE FOR THE THUNDERSTORMS TO PRODUCE BRIEF FUNNEL CLOUDS 
THROUGH 300 PM.  BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL CAN ALSO BE 
EXPECTED. 

LAT...LON 3973 10455 3958 10458 3958 10402 3973 10401

$$

DANKERS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 30, 8:12 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert	48 min
May 31, 2:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	56 min
May 31, 2:44 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Logan	31 min
May 31, 2:50 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Arapahoe, Elbert	55 min
May 31, 3:16 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Weld	59 min
May 31, 3:46 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Elbert, Lincoln	59 min
May 31, 4:02 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Weld	28 min
May 31, 4:36 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Lincoln	24 min
May 31, 5:17 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Morgan	28 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2006 Every tornado warning in 2006 Tornadoes in 2006

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.