Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2011

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 17, 2011Morgan County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2011, 5:20 PM MDT for Morgan County, Colorado. It was in force for 24 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 17, 2011, 5:20 PM MDT (23:20 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2011, 5:44 PM MDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area
Storm-based polygon

County Morgan County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:23 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 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 48 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 2011-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2011-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 142 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1149 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
160 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.

574 
WFUS55 KBOU 172320
TORBOU
COC087-172345-
/O.NEW.KBOU.TO.W.0001.110517T2320Z-110517T2345Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
520 PM MDT TUE MAY 17 2011

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EAST CENTRAL MORGAN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO

* UNTIL 545 PM MDT

* AT 520 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER
  SOUTHEASTERN MORGAN COUNTY...OR 13 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT MORGAN.
  THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF THE
  WARNED COUNTY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT TAKE SHELTER UNDER HIGHWAY OVERPASSES. AS A LAST
RESORT...EITHER PARK YOUR VEHICLE AND STAY PUT...OR ABANDON YOUR
VEHICLE AND LIE DOWN IN A LOW LYING AREA.

&&

LAT...LON 4025 10362 4023 10353 4010 10360 4012 10368
TIME...MOT...LOC 2320Z 199DEG 16KT 4012 10364

$$
2 follow-up statements
862 
WWUS55 KBOU 172324
SVSBOU

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
524 PM MDT TUE MAY 17 2011

COC087-172345-
/O.CON.KBOU.TO.W.0001.000000T0000Z-110517T2345Z/
MORGAN CO-
524 PM MDT TUE MAY 17 2011

...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 545 PM MDT FOR EAST
CENTRAL MORGAN COUNTY...

AT 524 PM MDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD. 
THIS STORM WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTHEASTERN MORGAN COUNTY...OR 12 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF FORT MORGAN. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF THE
WARNED COUNTY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT TAKE SHELTER UNDER HIGHWAY OVERPASSES. AS A LAST
RESORT...EITHER PARK YOUR VEHICLE AND STAY PUT...OR ABANDON YOUR
VEHICLE AND LIE DOWN IN A LOW LYING AREA.

&&

LAT...LON 4025 10362 4023 10353 4010 10360 4012 10368
TIME...MOT...LOC 2324Z 199DEG 16KT 4014 10363

$$
779 
WWUS55 KBOU 172344
SVSBOU

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
544 PM MDT TUE MAY 17 2011

COC087-172354-
/O.CAN.KBOU.TO.W.0001.000000T0000Z-110517T2345Z/
MORGAN CO-
544 PM MDT TUE MAY 17 2011

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR EAST CENTRAL MORGAN COUNTY IS CANCELLED...

THE STORM AND THE CIRCULATION WITH IN THE STORM HAS WEAKENED... 
THEREFORE THE TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELED.

LAT...LON 4025 10362 4023 10353 4010 10360 4012 10368
TIME...MOT...LOC 2344Z 199DEG 16KT 4022 10359

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 4:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Morgan40 min
May 17, 5:57 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWashington33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2011Every tornado warning in 2011Tornadoes in 2011

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.