Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2015
Tornado Warning 56, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 2015, 3:17 PM MDT for Douglas County, Elbert County, Colorado. It was in force for 28 min. 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
- Aug 17, 2015, 3:17 PM MDT (21:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 17, 2015, 3:45 PM MDT
- In force
- 28 min
- Issued by
- NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
- Area
- Storm-based polygon
- Tornado
- Radar indicated
- Hail
- 1.5 in
Counties Douglas County, CO, Elbert County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 3:17 PM MDT | TORNADO | 5 Sw Kiowa, CO | WEAK TORNADO ON GROUND FOR 5 MINUTES IN OPEN FIELD. NO DAMAGE REPORTED. |
Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 2:32 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 137 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 318 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -267 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1605 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -36 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 5 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
774
WFUS55 KBOU 172117
TORBOU
COC035-039-172145-
/O.NEW.KBOU.TO.W.0056.150817T2117Z-150817T2145Z/
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
317 PM MDT MON AUG 17 2015
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
WEST CENTRAL ELBERT COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO...
SOUTHEASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN COLORADO...
* UNTIL 345 PM MDT
* AT 316 PM MDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
TORNADO WAS LOCATED 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF ELBERT...OR 31 MILES NORTH
OF COLORADO SPRINGS...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.
HAZARD...TORNADO AND PING PONG BALL SIZE HAIL.
SOURCE...RADAR INDICATED ROTATION.
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...
ELBERT.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
TAKE COVER NOW! MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE
HOME...A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL
SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.
&&
LAT...LON 3913 10479 3935 10466 3921 10424 3913 10433
TIME...MOT...LOC 2116Z 287DEG 18KT 3926 10463
TORNADO...RADAR INDICATED
HAIL...1.50IN
$$
COOPERThe office that day
Everything else NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 7:04 PM MDT | Areal Flood Advisory | BOU | Elbert | 116 min |
| Aug 16, 8:18 PM MDT | Areal Flood Advisory | BOU | Lincoln | 3 hr |
| Aug 16, 8:23 PM MDT | Special Weather Statement | BOU | Lincoln | 37 min |
| Aug 17, 2:32 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Clear Creek, Jefferson | 16 min |
| Aug 17, 3:07 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Douglas, Jefferson | 38 min |
| Aug 17, 3:18 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Douglas, Jefferson | 27 min |
| Aug 17, 3:34 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Douglas, Elbert | 26 min |
| Aug 17, 3:43 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Morgan, Weld | 47 min |
| Aug 17, 3:43 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Douglas | 32 min |
| Aug 17, 3:47 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Arapahoe, Elbert, Lincoln, Washington | 43 min |
| Aug 17, 3:51 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Elbert | 39 min |
| Aug 17, 3:56 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Arapahoe, Elbert | 49 min |
| Aug 17, 4:05 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Elbert | 40 min |
| Aug 17, 4:21 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Washington | 24 min |
| Aug 17, 4:28 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Arapahoe, Elbert, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan and 1 more | 47 min |
| Aug 17, 4:33 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | BOU | Elbert, Lincoln | 3 hr |
| Aug 17, 4:38 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 37 min |
| Aug 17, 5:07 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Elbert, Lincoln, Morgan, Washington | 38 min |
| Aug 17, 5:42 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 48 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Colorado, 2015Every tornado warning in 2015Tornadoes in 2015
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.