Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2009

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 511

June 25, 200910 counties in Colorado; 8 counties in Nebraska; Goshen County, Laramie County, Platte County, Wyoming

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jun 25, 2009, 1:30 PM MDT for 10 counties in Colorado; 8 counties in Nebraska; Goshen County, Laramie County, Platte County, Wyoming. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 25, 2009, 1:30 PM MDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired
Jun 25, 2009, 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 21 counties

Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Denver County, CO, Douglas County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Washington County, CO, Weld County, CO, Banner County, NE, Box Butte County, NE, Cheyenne County, NE, Dawes County, NE, Kimball County, NE, Morrill County, NE, Scotts Bluff County, NE, Sioux County, NE, Goshen County, WY, Laramie County, WY, Platte County, WY

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 51 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 25, 2:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver40 min
Jun 25, 2:48 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver2 hr
Jun 25, 3:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld44 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

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 190 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 2009-06-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 60 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2009-06-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
60 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-255 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2125 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 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.

614 
WWUS20 KWNS 251929
SEL1  
SPC WW 251929
COZ000-NEZ000-WYZ000-260200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 511
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
130 PM MDT THU JUN 25 2009

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

       NORTH CENTRAL INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO
       NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
       SOUTHEAST WYOMING

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 130 PM UNTIL
800 PM MDT.

HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 70
STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTH OF
TORRINGTON WYOMING TO 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIMON COLORADO.  FOR
A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 508...WW 509...WW 510...

DISCUSSION...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL CONTINUE
ALONG THE FRONT RANGE FROM CENTRAL CO INTO SERN WY...WITH STORMS
SHIFTING EWD INTO MODERATE INSTABILITY THROUGH THE EVENING.  SHEAR
WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR SUPERCELLS...ESPECIALLY WITH INITIAL STORMS
LATE TODAY.  HOWEVER...EVOLUTION INTO CLUSTERS/LINES SHOULD OCCUR
WITH SEVERE THREAT PERSISTING OVER THE HIGH PLAINS INTO THE MID
EVENING.  ALTHOUGH A BRIEF TORNADO MAY OCCUR...OVERALL THREATS
SHOULD BE FROM LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...ALONG WITH HEAVY
RAIN.

AVIATION...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 500. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 26015.


...EVANS

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 25, 1:06 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and 13 more54 min
Jun 25, 4:22 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert and 5 more53 min
Jun 25, 5:50 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, Elbert and 5 more55 min
Jun 24, 9:53 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoyd, Cedar, Dixon, Holt, Knox, Pierce97 min
Jun 24, 10:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAntelope, Boone, Boyd, Burt, Cedar, Colfax and 23 more5 hr
Jun 25, 1:13 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCedar, Dakota, Dixon, Wayne92 min
Jun 25, 3:49 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrook56 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Colorado, 2009Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Nebraska, 2009Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Wyoming, 2009Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2009

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.