Alert archive / Colorado / Red Flag Warnings in 2012

Red Flag Warning 17, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

June 13, 20128 counties in Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this red flag warning at Jun 13, 2012, 2:57 PM MDT for 8 counties in Colorado. It was in force for 6 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 13, 2012, 2:57 PM MDT (20:57 UTC)
Expired
Jun 13, 2012, 9:00 PM MDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

Counties Boulder County, CO, Clear Creek County, CO, Gilpin County, CO, Grand County, CO, Jackson County, CO, Larimer County, CO, Park County, CO, Summit County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:00 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 218 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 2012-06-13Temperature 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 2012-06-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3903 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 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.

771 
WWUS85 KBOU 132057
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
257 PM MDT WED JUN 13 2012

...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS EXPECTED OVER THE NORTHERN
AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS...NORTHERN HIGH VALLEYS AND NORTHERN
FOOTHILLS...INCLUDING THE HIGH PARK FIRE...

.GUSTY WINDS AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT ARE COMBINING WITH
ALREADY LOW HUMIDITY READINGS TO PRODUCE CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER
CONDITIONS. CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN UNTIL THE COLD FRONT
PASSAGE LATER THIS EVENING. 

COZ211>213-215-217-218-140300-
/O.NEW.KBOU.FW.W.0017.120613T2057Z-120614T0300Z/
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-
SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/
GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE
9000 FEET-GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-
LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-
WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-
SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/
NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-
257 PM MDT WED JUN 13 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR
WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL 
MOUNTAINS...NORTH AND MIDDLE PARKS AND THE NORTHERN FRONT RANGE
FOOTHILLS...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONES 211...212...213...215... 
  217 AND 218.

* TIMING...CONTINUE THROUGH 9 PM TONIGHT.  

* WINDS...WEST 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...6 TO 10 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...STRONG WINDS AND LOW HUMIDITY WILL SUPPORT EXTREME 
  FIRE BEHAVIOR AND RAPID SPREAD OF ANY CURRENT OR NEW FIRE STARTS

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING OR IMMINENT. PLEASE ADVISE THE APPROPRIATE
OFFICIALS AND FIRE CREWS IN THE FIELD OF THIS RED FLAG WARNING.

&&

$$
1 follow-up statement
117 
WWUS85 KBOU 140309
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
909 PM MDT WED JUN 13 2012

COZ211>213-215-217-218-140415-
/O.EXP.KBOU.FW.W.0017.000000T0000Z-120614T0300Z/
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-
SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/
GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE
9000 FEET-GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-
LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-
WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-
SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/
NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-
909 PM MDT WED JUN 13 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING HAS EXPIRED FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY FOR THE NORTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF COLORADO...FIRE ZONES
211...212...213...215...217...AND 218...

HUMIDITIES REMAIN LOW THIS EVENING...GENERALLY BETWEEN 8 AND 15
PERCENT...BUT WINDS HAVE DIMINISHED TO LESS THAN 20 MPH.
HUMIDITIES WILL REMAIN LOW UNTIL A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH EARLY
THURSDAY MORNING...THEN RISE AS WINDS SHIFT TO A MORE NORTHERLY
DIRECTION.

$$

GIMMESTAD

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Colorado, 2012Every red flag 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.