Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 2010

Tornado Watch 185

May 18, 201023 counties in Colorado

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 18, 2010, 12:41 PM MDT for 23 counties in Colorado. It was in force for 10 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 2010, 12:41 PM MDT (18:41 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 2010, 10:30 PM MDT
In force
10 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 23 counties

Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Baca County, CO, Bent County, CO, Cheyenne County, CO, Crowley County, CO, Denver County, CO, Douglas County, CO, El Paso County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Huerfano County, CO, Kiowa County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Las Animas County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Otero County, CO, Prowers County, CO, Pueblo County, CO, Washington County, CO, Weld County, CO, Yuma County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 54 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
80%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
50%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 2:00 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBPueblo60 min
May 18, 2:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBCrowley, Pueblo35 min
May 18, 3:36 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld24 min
May 18, 3:51 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULogan, Weld39 min
May 18, 3:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBPueblo32 min
May 18, 4:03 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Denver, Weld42 min
May 18, 4:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBCrowley61 min
May 18, 4:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBCrowley, Kiowa61 min
May 18, 5:18 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld27 min
May 18, 5:28 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld36 min
May 18, 5:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa18 min
May 18, 5:46 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld44 min
May 18, 5:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBCrowley, Kiowa, Otero56 min
May 18, 6:06 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBBent, Crowley, Otero54 min
May 18, 6:19 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld41 min
May 18, 6:37 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld38 min
May 18, 6:44 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDCheyenne, Kit Carson39 min
May 18, 6:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa30 min
May 18, 6:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero, Prowers53 min
May 18, 6:58 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDCheyenne12 min
May 18, 7:00 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBKiowa30 min
May 18, 7:07 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDCheyenne38 min
May 18, 7:20 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDCheyenne55 min
May 18, 7:24 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBLas Animas96 min
May 18, 7:25 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBKiowa20 min
May 18, 7:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson45 min
May 18, 7:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent, Kiowa, Otero, Prowers65 min
May 18, 7:53 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDCheyenne25 min
May 18, 8:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson15 min
May 18, 8:19 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Denver, Weld21 min
May 18, 8:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne54 min
May 18, 8:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent, Kiowa, Prowers30 min
May 18, 8:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBaca, Bent, Prowers15 min
May 18, 9:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBaca, Prowers29 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, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 80 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 2010-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 482 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 12:00Z on 2010-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 62 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
482 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-196 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1137 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 6:23 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBent, Crowley, Kiowa, Las Animas, Otero, Pueblo67 min
May 17, 8:18 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Las Animas, Otero and 2 more87 min
May 18, 11:42 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Elbert and 10 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2010Every tornado watch in 2010

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.