Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 448
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 4, 2008, 12:42 PM MDT for 14 counties in Colorado; 8 counties in Kansas; 10 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 4, 2008, 12:42 PM MDT (18:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 4, 2008, 8:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 32 counties
Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Denver County, CO, Douglas County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Phillips County, CO, Sedgwick County, CO, Washington County, CO, Weld County, CO, Yuma County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Graham County, KS, Norton County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Chase County, NE, Deuel County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Frontier County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE, Keith County, NE, Lincoln County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Red Willow County, NE
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:43 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.
What SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 70%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 50%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
42 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 2:11 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 35 min |
| Jun 4, 2:15 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Yuma | 60 min |
| Jun 4, 2:38 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Morgan, Weld | 37 min |
| Jun 4, 2:48 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Adams, Morgan, Weld | 42 min |
| Jun 4, 2:58 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Boulder, Broomfield, Jefferson, Weld | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 2:59 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Yuma | 61 min |
| Jun 4, 3:10 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Yuma | 35 min |
| Jun 4, 3:24 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Frontier, Lincoln | 39 min |
| Jun 4, 3:26 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Adams, Morgan, Washington | 35 min |
| Jun 4, 3:36 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Frontier | 24 min |
| Jun 4, 3:57 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Frontier, Lincoln | 33 min |
| Jun 4, 3:59 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Morgan, Washington | 46 min |
| Jun 4, 4:03 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Yuma | 57 min |
| Jun 4, 4:27 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Frontier | 18 min |
| Jun 4, 4:36 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 39 min |
| Jun 4, 4:36 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | LBF | Frontier | 84 min |
| Jun 4, 4:38 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Chase, Perkins | 52 min |
| Jun 4, 4:41 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Chase | 34 min |
| Jun 4, 4:59 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Yuma | 61 min |
| Jun 4, 5:09 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | GLD | Yuma | 3 hr |
| Jun 4, 5:11 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 34 min |
| Jun 4, 5:14 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Chase | 31 min |
| Jun 4, 5:17 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | BOU | Morgan, Washington | 2 hr |
| Jun 4, 5:22 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | LBF | Chase | 113 min |
| Jun 4, 5:35 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Chase, Hayes | 25 min |
| Jun 4, 5:46 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Washington | 29 min |
| Jun 4, 5:47 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Chase | 14 min |
| Jun 4, 5:52 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Yuma | 53 min |
| Jun 4, 5:58 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Chase, Hayes | 32 min |
| Jun 4, 6:20 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Hayes, Lincoln | 25 min |
| Jun 4, 6:24 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | LBF | Hayes | 2 hr |
| Jun 4, 6:33 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Chase | 57 min |
| Jun 4, 6:42 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Yuma | 63 min |
| Jun 4, 6:45 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Hayes, Lincoln | 30 min |
| Jun 4, 7:00 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Yuma | 47 min |
| Jun 4, 7:00 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Frontier, Hayes | 30 min |
| Jun 4, 7:24 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Frontier | 36 min |
| Jun 4, 7:28 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Chase, Hayes | 32 min |
| Jun 4, 7:42 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Dundy, Hitchcock | 63 min |
| Jun 4, 7:46 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Frontier, Lincoln | 44 min |
| Jun 4, 7:49 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | BOU | Morgan | 2 hr |
| Jun 4, 7:58 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | LBF | Hayes | 2 hr |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 61 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 266 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -122 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 675 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 91 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 185 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 041839
SEL8
SPC WW 041839
COZ000-KSZ000-NEZ000-050200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 448
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1240 PM MDT WED JUN 4 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHEAST COLORADO
NORTHWEST KANSAS
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1240 PM UNTIL
800 PM MDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 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 60 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES NORTH OF DENVER
COLORADO TO 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF MCCOOK NEBRASKA. FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).
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 446...WW 447...
DISCUSSION...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS
AFTERNOON ALONG THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL CO...AND ALONG WEAK SURFACE
BOUNDARY EXTENDING EASTWARD INTO PARTS OF NORTHWEST KS/SOUTHWEST
NEB. EASTERLY LOW LEVEL WINDS IN THIS REGION COUPLED WITH STRONG
WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL PROMOTE SUPERCELL STORMS CAPABLE OF LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030.
...HARTSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 11:54 AM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Elbert and 7 more | 96 min |
| Jun 4, 2:26 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Elbert, Logan, Morgan and 5 more | 64 min |
| Jun 4, 5:08 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Phillips, Washington, Yuma | 67 min |
| Jun 3, 6:23 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Allen, Anderson, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Coffey and 20 more | 6 hr |
| Jun 3, 8:35 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua and 17 more | 115 min |
| Jun 3, 9:43 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brown, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Geary and 20 more | 3 hr |
| Jun 3, 9:58 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford | 4 hr |
| Jun 4, 12:29 AM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette | 91 min |
| Jun 4, 1:46 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne, Phillips, Rooks, Smith | 6 hr |
| Jun 4, 1:25 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Boone, Buffalo, Butler, Clay, Colfax and 30 more | 65 min |
| Jun 4, 3:09 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Antelope, Boone, Buffalo, Butler, Cass and 42 more | 66 min |
| Jun 4, 4:40 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Burt, Cuming, Dodge, Washington | 6 hr |
| Jun 4, 5:47 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass and 36 more | 58 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2008Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2008Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2008Every tornado 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.