Alert archive / Colorado / Flash Flood Watches in 2008

Flash Flood Watch 1, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 23, 2008Boulder County, Larimer County, Weld County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this flash flood watch at May 23, 2008, 4:14 AM MDT for Boulder County, Larimer County, Weld County, Colorado. It took effect at May 23, 2008, 12:00 PM MDT. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 23, 2008, 4:14 AM MDT (10:14 UTC)
In effect from
May 23, 2008, 12:00 PM MDT
Expired
May 23, 2008, 7:21 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Flood severity
None

Counties Boulder County, CO, Larimer County, CO, Weld County, CO

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:15 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 169 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 00:00Z on 2008-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 52 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2008-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -97 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
52 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2278 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-79 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood watch went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood watch went out at May 23, 2:51 AM MDT, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 2:51 AM MDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
251 AM MDT FRI MAY 23 2008

.SHORT TERM...ONCE AGAIN FCST FOR TODAY IS RATHER COMPLICATED.  STG
UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL REMAIN OVER THE WRN US WITH RATHER STG SSW
FLOW ALOFT.  JUST LIKE YESTERDAY THE BIG QUESTION IS WHERE A STG SFC
LOW WILL DVLP BY AFTN AND WHERE WILL WRM FNTL BNDRY AND DRYLINE
INTERSECT BY AFTN.  YESTERDAY AN INTENSE SUPERCELL DEVELOPED ALONG
THE TRIPLE POINT OVER SWRN WELD COUNTY AND PRODUCED A STG TORNADO AS
IT MOVED NW CAUSING CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE.  THE RUC AND GFS SHOW THE
FNTL BNDRY BY EARLY AFTN ALONG THE WY-NE BORDER AREA WHILE BOTH THE
00Z AND 06Z RUNS OF THE NAM HAVE THIS BNDRY FURTHER SOUTH FROM JUST
NORTH OF DENVER EXTENDING EASTWARDS TOWARDS AKRON MUCH LIKE OCCURRED
YESTERDAY.  LATEST 06Z RUN FM THE RUC IS STARTING TO TREND MORE
TOWARDS NAM SOLUTION SO AM A BIT CONCERNED THAT NAM MAY END UP BEING
THE RIGHT SOLUTION.  MEANWHILE QQ FIELDS FM THE GFS AND NAM SHOW
DECENT ASCENT OVER NRN CO THIS AFTN WITH FAVORABLE QG VERTICAL
VELOCITIES ONCE AGAIN.  IF RATHER STG ESE LOW LEVEL FLOW DOES DVLP
INTO LARIMER COUNTY AS SHOW BY THE NAM THIS COULD LEAD TO
SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL ON TOP OF ALREADY SATURATED GROUND IN AN NR THE
FOOTHILLS WHICH COULD LEAD TO SOME FLASH FLOODING.  THUS WILL ISSUE
A FFA FOR THE FOOTHILLS AND LOWER ELEVATIONS OF LARIMER COUNTY INTO
EXTREME WRN WELD COUNTY FOR THE AFTN HOURS.  AS FAR AS SVR WEATHER
THREAT IF FNTL BNDRY ENDS UP FURTHER SOUTH LIKE NAM SHOWS THE
POTENTIAL FOR SVR WEATHER WILL BE QUITE HIGH ALONG AND NORTH OF
BNDRY THRU THE AFTN HOURS.  CAPES ARE FCST IN THE 1500-2000 J/KG
RANGE ALONG BNDRY BY MID AFTN WITH HELICITIES AOA 200 M2S2.
CURRENTLY THERE IS A MDT RISK FOR THE EXTREME NERN CORNER OF CO FOR
THIS AFTN HOWEVER AM CONCERNED IF BNDRY ENDS UP FURTHER SOUTH THREAT
FOR SIGNIFICANT SVR WX MAY EXIST FURTHER WESTWARD INTO MORGAN...WELD
AND POSSIBLY ERN LARIMER COUNTIES.  FOR THE REST OF THE AREA SOUTH
OF THE FNTL BNDRY THE AIRMASS WILL DRY OUT CONSIDERABLY WITH ONLY
SOME HIGH ISOLD HIGH BASED CONVECTION POSSIBLE.  MEANWHILE STG SSE
LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL REDEVELOP BY AFTN SOUTH OF THE BNDRY WITH
SPEEDS IN THE 20 TO 35 MPH WITH A FEW GUSTS TO 50 MPH POSSIBLE.  IN
THE MTNS ONCE AGAIN THERE WILL BE QUITE A BIT OF MOISTURE COMBINED
WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES SO EXPECT SCT SHOWERS/TSTMS WITH THE SNOW
LEVEL AROUND 10000 FEET.  HIGH TEMPS THIS AFTN WILL VARY WIDELY AND
BE DEPENDANT ON WHERE THE FNTL BNDRY IS.  SOUTH OF THE BNDRY HIGHS
WILL RISE WELL INTO THE 70S WHILE NORTH OF BNDRY HIGHS WILL ONLY BE
IN THE 60S.

FOR TONIGHT THE QG ASCENT WILL AND QG VERTICAL VELOCITIES ARE FCST
TO DIMINISH BY EARLY EVENING AS THE FNTLY BNDRY IS FCST TO LIFT BACK
TO ALONG THE WY-CO-NE BORDER AREA BY 03Z.  THUS PCPN SHOULD END BY
EARLY EVENING ACROSS ALONG AND NORTH OF THE BNDRY.  IN THE MTNS
SHOULD SEE PCPN GRADUALLY DIMINISH AS WELL.

.LONG TERM...THE UPPER PATTERN OVER THE WESTERN U.S. WILL UNDERGO
CHANGE OVER THE COURSE OF THE WEEKEND AS THE LARGE UPPER LOW
CONTINUES ITS RETROGRESSION AND THEN BEGINS FILLING ON SUNDAY.  AS
THE UPPER LOW FILLS...RISING HEIGHTS OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN DESERTS
WILL PRODUCE A DRIER SOUTHWESTERLY MID LEVEL FLOW OVER COLORADO.  AS
THE SURFACE PRESSURE PATTERN RELAXES THROUGH THE WEEKEND...IT WILL
BE LESS ABLE TO CONTINUE DRAWING GULF MOISTURE INTO THE REGION.  THE
RESULT OF THESE CHANGES WILL BE A RETURN TO THE MORE DIURNAL PATTERN
OF SHOWER ACTIVITY ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THAN WE HAVE SEEN OVER
THE LAST COUPLE DAYS.  QPF FIELDS FROM THE LATEST GFS NOW SHOW DRY
CONDITIONS ACROSS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA FROM SATURDAY NIGHT
THROUGH MONDAY AFTERNOON...TEMPTING ME TO REMOVE ALL POPS FROM THE
FORECAST...BUT DO NOT HAVE THE CONFIDENCE THAT THE GFS SOLUTION WILL
VERIFY ALL THE WAY THROUGH 96 HOURS...SO WILL HANG ON TO THE SLIGHT
CHANCE POPS THAT ARE ALREADY IN THE FORECAST PACKAGE.

COME MONDAY EVENING THROUGH NEXT WEEK...THE GFS AND ECMWF INDICATE A
CANADIAN HIGH DROPPING OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS WHICH COULD SET
EASTERN COLORADO UP FOR SOME DAY 2/GULF MOISTURE RETURN FLOW THAT
CAN SUPPORT AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS ALONG THE FRONT RANGE.
THIS WILL BE A MUCH MORE COMMON SUMMER WEATHER PATTERN THAN WHAT WE
HAVE SEEN OVER THE PAST COUPLE DAYS.  TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE
PERIOD SHOULD BE GENERALLY AROUND SEASONAL VALUES GIVEN THAT WE WILL
NOT BE UNDER ANY WARM RIDING OR COLD TROUGHINESS.

CHANGES TO THE GRIDS WERE PRIMARILY TO BACK OFF ON CLOUD COVER
THROUGH MOST PERIODS...AND TO SCALE BACK POPS DURING THE OVERNIGHT
PERIODS TO REFLECT THE CHANGE TO THE MORE DIURNALLY DRIVEN SHOWER
PATTERN.

&&

.AVIATION...STG SURFACE LOW WILL REDEVELOP BY MIDDAY WITH LIGHT
WINDS THIS MORNING INCREASING SIGNIFICANTLY BY MIDDAY.  SSE WINDS OF
20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE THRU THE AFTN
HOURS.  WINDS MAY EVENTUALLY SHIFT TO MORE SWLY BY 23Z WITH SPEEDS
STILL IN THE 20-30 MPH RANGE BEFORE DECREASING BY 02Z.  BEST CHC OF
TSTMS THIS AFTN SHOULD STAY NORTH OF THE AIRPORT MUCH LIKE YESTERDAY
HOWEVER IF AN ISOLD HIGH BASED STORM DOES DEVELOP COULD SEE WIND
GUSTS BRIEFLY REACH 50 MPH OR SO.

&&

.BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FROM 18Z-03Z
FOR THE FOOTHILLS AND LOWER ELEVATIONS OF LARIMER COUNTY AND EXTREME
WESTERN WELD COUNTY...ZONES 35 AND 38.

&&

RPK/KDRBY
Hazardous weather outlook, May 22, 10:59 AM MDT, 17 hours 15 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
1059 AM MDT THU MAY 22 2008

COZ030>051-231200-
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND
COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000
FEET-SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/
NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST
GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/
SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-LARIMER AND
BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-JEFFERSON AND WEST
DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK
COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY-LARIMER
COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY-BOULDER AND JEFFERSON
COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-NORTH DOUGLAS
COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/DENVER/WEST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/
EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES
ABOVE 6000 FEET-NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY-CENTRAL AND SOUTH WELD
COUNTY-MORGAN COUNTY-CENTRAL AND EAST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES-
NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN
COUNTY-SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN
COUNTY-LOGAN COUNTY-WASHINGTON COUNTY-SEDGWICK COUNTY-PHILLIPS
COUNTY-
1059 AM MDT THU MAY 22 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL
COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE FRONT
RANGE FOOTHILLS...URBAN CORRIDOR AND NORTHEAST PLAINS THIS
AFTERNOON.  A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE ESPECIALLY EAST OF
A FORT MORGAN TO BYERS TO LIMON LINE AND MAY PRODUCE VERY LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND A FEW TORNADOES.  ELSEWHERE ISOLATED
SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE REST OF NORTHEAST COLORADO AND
MAY PRODUCE HAIL TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER ALONG WITH DAMAGING WINDS.
ALSO SOME VERY HEAVY RAIN MAY OCCUR WITH THE STORMS.  IN ADDITION
SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 20 TO 35 MPH WITH SOME GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL OCCUR
OVER THE NORTHEAST PLAINS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

IN THE MOUNTAINS EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH
GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL.  THE SNOW LEVEL WILL BE AROUND 10000
FEET WITH A FEW INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER PASSES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS ON THE NORTHEAST PLAINS MAY BECOME SEVERE. ALTHOUGH IT
IS DIFFICULT TO TELL HOW WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL BE ON
ANY PARTICULAR DAY...AREAS TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF A GREELEY TO
LIMON LINE WILL HAVE THE BETTER CHANCES OF SEEING THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY ON FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. EARLY NEXT WEEK...THE SURFACE
PRESSURE PATTERNS WILL CHANGE AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY MAY BECOME
MORE CONCENTRATED ALONG THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AND URBAN
CORRIDOR.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED AFTER 1 PM OVER PORTIONS OF
NORTHEAST COLORADO.

COOPER/MEIER

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 22, 10:23 PM MDT, 5 hours 51 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 22, 10:25 PM MDT, 5 hours 49 minutes before
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Local storm report, May 22, 10:54 PM MDT, 5 hours 20 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 3:35 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld25 min
May 23, 3:49 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan41 min
May 23, 3:54 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld21 min
May 23, 4:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer42 min
May 23, 4:22 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld38 min
May 23, 4:31 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUMorgan44 min
May 23, 5:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld16 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Watches in Colorado, 2008Every flash flood watch in 2008

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.