Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2014

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

May 21, 2014Washington County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at May 21, 2014, 6:15 PM MDT for Washington County, Colorado. It was in force for 30 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 21, 2014, 6:15 PM MDT (00:15 UTC)
Expired: May 21, 2014, 6:45 PM MDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Storm-based polygon
Tornado: Observed
Hail: 1.25 in

County Washington County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:16 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 21, 4:48 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 21 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: 2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -115 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1821 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -25 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

437 
WFUS55 KBOU 220015
TORBOU
COC121-220045-
/O.NEW.KBOU.TO.W.0022.140522T0015Z-140522T0045Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
615 PM MDT WED MAY 21 2014

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL AND NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO...

* UNTIL 645 PM MDT

* AT 611 PM MDT...TRAINED SPOTTERS HAVE BEEN REPORTING FUNNEL CLOUDS 
  TO THE SOUTH OF AKRON.  THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED FROM MIDWAY TO 
  ELBA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  BRIEF TORNADOES WILL BE 
  POSSIBLE FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS. 

  HAZARD...DAMAGING TORNADO AND HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL. 

  SOURCE...WEATHER SPOTTERS CONFIRMED TORNADO. 

  IMPACT...FLYING DEBRIS WILL BE DANGEROUS TO THOSE CAUGHT WITHOUT 
           SHELTER. MOBILE HOMES WILL BE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. 
           DAMAGE TO ROOFS...WINDOWS AND VEHICLES WILL OCCUR.  TREE 
           DAMAGE IS LIKELY. 

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  AKRON...OTIS...PLATNER...ELBA AND MIDWAY. 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

BRIEF TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE.  MOVE TO A BASEMENT 
OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID 
WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE 
CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

&&

LAT...LON 3985 10326 4005 10346 4034 10345 4018 10282
TIME...MOT...LOC 0011Z 221DEG 27KT 4005 10324 

TORNADO...OBSERVED
HAIL...1.25IN

$$

DANKERS

1 follow-up statement

624 
WWUS55 KBOU 220033
SVSBOU

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
633 PM MDT WED MAY 21 2014

COC121-220041-
/O.CAN.KBOU.TO.W.0022.000000T0000Z-140522T0045Z/
WASHINGTON CO-
633 PM MDT WED MAY 21 2014

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL 
WASHINGTON COUNTY IS CANCELLED...
                
THE STORM WHICH PROMPTED THE WARNING HAS WEAKENED BELOW SEVERE
LIMITS...AND NO LONGER APPEARS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO.
THEREFORE THE WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.  HOWEVER HEAVY RAIN IS 
STILL POSSIBLE WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.  AT 630 PM MDT...THE 
WASHINGTON COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTED THAT HEAVY RAIN WAS 
FALLING IN AKRON...CAUSING SOME MINOR FLOODING. 

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1200 AM MDT
THURSDAY MORNING FOR NORTHEAST COLORADO.

LAT...LON 3985 10326 4005 10346 4034 10345 4018 10282
TIME...MOT...LOC 0029Z 221DEG 27KT 4017 10311 

$$

DANKERS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 22, 12:14 AM MDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOU	Adams, Weld	91 min
May 22, 12:52 PM MDT	Special Weather Statement	BOU	Larimer	38 min
May 22, 1:50 PM MDT	Special Weather Statement	BOU	Larimer	40 min
May 22, 2:01 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Larimer	44 min
May 22, 2:03 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Larimer	27 min
May 22, 2:36 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Larimer	24 min
May 22, 2:42 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe, Denver	33 min
May 22, 2:55 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe, Denver	50 min
May 22, 3:56 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Arapahoe	49 min
May 22, 4:06 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Arapahoe, Elbert	39 min
May 22, 4:30 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOU	Arapahoe	45 min
May 22, 4:43 PM MDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOU	Denver, Jefferson	3 hr
May 22, 5:07 PM MDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe	3 hr
May 22, 5:18 PM MDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOU	Adams, Arapahoe, Denver, Jefferson	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2014 Every tornado warning in 2014 Tornadoes 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.