Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2014

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 175

May 22, 201412 counties in Colorado; 4 counties in Wyoming

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 22, 2014, 12:34 PM MDT for 12 counties in Colorado; 4 counties in Wyoming. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 22, 2014, 12:34 PM MDT (18:34 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 2014, 7:00 PM MDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Boulder County, CO, Broomfield County, CO, Denver County, CO, Douglas County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Jefferson County, CO, Larimer County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Weld County, CO, Albany County, WY, Goshen County, WY, Laramie County, WY, Platte County, WY

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:38 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 SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 2:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULarimer44 min
May 22, 2:03 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULarimer27 min
May 22, 2:36 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULarimer24 min
May 22, 2:42 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver33 min
May 22, 2:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver50 min
May 22, 3:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe49 min
May 22, 4:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe, Elbert39 min
May 22, 4:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUArapahoe45 min
May 22, 5:07 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe3 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 197 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 2014-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 49 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2014-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -16 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
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-195 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
772 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 11:32 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrowley, Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero, Pueblo88 min
May 22, 11:53 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaca, Bent, Crowley, El Paso, Huerfano, Kiowa and 4 more7 hr
May 22, 12:07 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and 6 more83 min
May 22, 4:55 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Bent, Prowers65 min
May 22, 5:50 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKit Carson, Yuma55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Colorado, 2014Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Wyoming, 2014Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.