Alert archive / Colorado / Flash Flood Warnings in 2012

Flash Flood Warning 19, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

July 16, 2012Larimer County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this flash flood warning at Jul 16, 2012, 1:43 PM MDT for Larimer County, Colorado. It was in force for 3 hr. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jul 16, 2012, 1:43 PM MDT (19:43 UTC)
Expired: Jul 16, 2012, 4:45 PM MDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

County Larimer County, CO

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:43 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 was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 16, 4:00 PM MDT	FLASH FLOOD	1 Sw Mishowaka, CO	WESTBOUND HIGHWAY 14 AT CR 27 WAS CLOSED DUE TO MULTIPLE MUDSLIDES WITHIN THE HIGH PARK FIRE BURN.

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 206 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -362 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2158 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 50 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.

646 
WGUS55 KBOU 161943
FFWBOU
COC069-162245-
/O.NEW.KBOU.FF.W.0019.120716T1943Z-120716T2245Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
143 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL LARIMER COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO INCLUDING THE 
  HIGH PARK BURN AREA. 

* UNTIL 445 PM MDT

* AT 138 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM A THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  MISHOWAKA...OR 21 MILES WEST OF FORT COLLINS. THIS STORM WAS MOVING
  NORTH AT 10 MPH.  MORE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED SOUTH OF THE 
  BURN AREA MOVING SLOWLY NORTHWARD...SO MORE HEAVY RAINFALL IS 
  POSSIBLE IN THE BURN AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON.   

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
   MISHOWAKA...BUCKHORN MOUNTAIN AND RIST CANYON.

DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES THAT UP TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH OF RAIN 
HAS FALLEN OVER THE WESTERN THIRD OF THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA SINCE 
1:00 PM MDT.  

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF CREEKS
AND STREAMS...ROADS...AND ROADSIDE CULVERTS. THE HEAVY RAINS COULD 
ALSO TRIGGER ROCK SLIDES OR DEBRIS FLOWS IN THE HIGH PARK BURN 
AREA.

&&

LAT...LON 4066 10553 4071 10549 4073 10533 4065 10529
      4056 10531 4057 10545 4060 10556

$$



RJK

3 follow-up statements

927 
WGUS75 KBOU 162048
FFSBOU

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
248 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2012

COC069-162245-
/O.CON.KBOU.FF.W.0019.000000T0000Z-120716T2245Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
LARIMER CO-
248 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2012

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 445 PM MDT FOR 
WESTERN HALF OF THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA OF CENTRAL LARIMER COUNTY...

AT 240 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY
HEAVY RAIN FROM A THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MISHOWAKA...OR 
ABOUT 21 MILES WEST OF FORT COLLINS. THIS STORM WAS MOVING 
NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

LOCATIONS REMAINING IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO 
MISHOWAKA...BUCKHORN MOUNTAIN AND RIST CANYON.

DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES THAT ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN 
OVER THE WESTERN HALF OF THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA SINCE 1:00 PM MDT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF CREEKS
AND STREAMS...ROADS...AND ROADSIDE CULVERTS. THE HEAVY RAINS COULD 
ALSO TRIGGER DEBRIS FLOWS OR ROCK SLIDES IN THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA.

&&

LAT...LON 4066 10553 4071 10549 4073 10533 4065 10529
      4056 10531 4057 10545 4060 10556

$$



RJK

199 
WGUS75 KBOU 162146
FFSBOU

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
346 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2012

COC069-162245-
/O.CON.KBOU.FF.W.0019.000000T0000Z-120716T2245Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
LARIMER CO-
346 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2012

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 445 PM MDT FOR 
WESTERN HALF OF THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA OF CENTRAL LARIMER COUNTY...

AT 341 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY
HEAVY RAIN FROM A THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BUCKHORN
MOUNTAIN...OR ABOUT 19 MILES WEST OF FORT COLLINS. THIS STORM WAS
MOVING NORTH AT 15 MPH.

LOCATIONS REMAINING IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO 
MISHOWAKA...BUCKHORN MOUNTAIN AND RIST CANYON.

DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES THAT 0.75 TO 2.50 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN 
OVER MOST OF THE WESTERN HALF OF THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA SINCE 1:00 
PM MDT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF CREEKS
AND STREAMS...ROADS...AND ROADSIDE CULVERTS. THE HEAVY RAINS COULD 
ALSO TRIGGER DEBRIS FLOWS OR ROCK SLIDES IN THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA.

&&

LAT...LON 4066 10553 4071 10549 4073 10533 4065 10529
      4056 10531 4057 10545 4060 10556

$$



RJK

726 
WGUS75 KBOU 162243
FFSBOU

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
443 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2012

COC069-162246-
/O.EXP.KBOU.FF.W.0019.000000T0000Z-120716T2245Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
LARIMER CO-
443 PM MDT MON JUL 16 2012

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 445 PM MDT FOR CENTRAL
LARIMER COUNTY...

THE STORM THAT PROMPTED THE WARNING HAS WEAKENED AND EXITED THE AREA.

WESTBOUND HIGHWAY 14 WAS CLOSED DUE THE MULTIPLE MUDSLIDES...AT 
LARIMER COUNTY ROAD 27.  

RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES INDICATED ABOUT 1.00 TO 3.00 INCHES OF RAIN 
HAD FALLEN OVER THE WESTERN ONE THIRD OF THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA 
SINCE 1:00 PM MDT.  

A LOCATION 8 MILES NORTH OF GLEN HAVEN...IMMEDIATELY SOUTH OF THE 
SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE HIGH PARK BURN AREA REPORTED 0.90 INCH OF 
RAINFALL WITH THIS AFTERNOON'S THUNDERSTORMS.  


LAT...LON 4066 10553 4071 10549 4073 10533 4065 10529
      4056 10531 4057 10545 4060 10556

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 16, 2:31 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Jefferson, Park	51 min
Jul 16, 4:34 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Boulder	49 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Colorado, 2012 Every flash flood warning in 2012

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.