Alert archive / Colorado / Red Flag Warnings in 2014

Red Flag Warning 3, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

April 1, 2014Elbert County, Lincoln County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this red flag warning at Apr 1, 2014, 4:48 AM MDT for Elbert County, Lincoln County, Colorado. It took effect at Apr 1, 2014, 11:00 AM MDT. It was in force for 7 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
Apr 1, 2014, 4:48 AM MDT (10:48 UTC)
In effect from
Apr 1, 2014, 11:00 AM MDT
Expired
Apr 1, 2014, 6:26 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

Counties Elbert County, CO, Lincoln County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:49 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 (KDEN), launched 00:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 00:00Z on 2014-04-01Temperature 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 00:00Z on 2014-04-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -29 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
3232 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 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.

481 
WWUS85 KBOU 011048
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
448 AM MDT TUE APR 1 2014

...STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH LOW HUMIDITIES AND DRY
FUELS TODAY OVER SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...

COZ247-011800-
/O.NEW.KBOU.FW.W.0003.140401T1700Z-140402T0200Z/
SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-
448 AM MDT TUE APR 1 2014

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM MDT
THIS EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER
ZONE 247...SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT
FROM 11 AM THIS MORNING TO 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 247.

* TIMING...WINDS ARE ALREADY GUSTING TO AND ABOVE 25 MPH...HOWEVER
  IT WILL TAKE UNTIL LATE MORNING FOR HUMIDITY TO LOWER ENOUGH.
  CONDITIONS SHOULD SUBSIDE JUST AFTER SUNSET...AROUND 8 PM.

* WINDS...SOUTH 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 12 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...RAPID FIRE SPREAD AND EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR CAN BE
  EXPECTED WITH ANY FIRE STARTS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

&&

$$
2 follow-up statements
221 
WWUS85 KBOU 012052
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO
252 PM MDT TUE APR 1 2014

...STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH LOW HUMIDITIES AND
DRY FUELS THIS AFTERNOON OVER SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...

COZ247-020200-
/O.CON.KBOU.FW.W.0003.000000T0000Z-140402T0200Z/
SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-
252 PM MDT TUE APR 1 2014

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM MDT THIS EVENING
FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONE 247...
SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 247.

* TIMING...GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY LEVELS WILL
  CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. CONDITIONS
  SHOULD SUBSIDE JUST AFTER SUNSET...AROUND 8 PM.

* WINDS...SOUTH-SOUTHWEST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 13 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...RAPID FIRE SPREAD AND EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR CAN BE 
  EXPECTED WITH ANY FIRE STARTS. 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES CAN
CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

&&

$$
471 
WWUS85 KBOU 020026
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
626 PM MDT TUE APR 1 2014

COZ247-020130-
/O.CAN.KBOU.FW.W.0003.000000T0000Z-140402T0200Z/
SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-
626 PM MDT TUE APR 1 2014

...RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY FOR SOUTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS CANCELLED THE RED FLAG
WARNING.

RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES HAVE INCREASED ABOVE 20 PERCENT. THEREFORE
THE RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELED.

$$

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Colorado, 2014Every red flag warning in 2014

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.