Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Warnings in 2015

Tornado Warning 59, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

August 17, 2015Lincoln County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 2015, 4:38 PM MDT for Lincoln County, Colorado. It was in force for 37 min. 2 reports 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, 4:38 PM MDT (22:38 UTC)
Expired: Aug 17, 2015, 5:15 PM MDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Denver/Boulder, CO
Area: Storm-based polygon
Tornado: Radar indicated
Hail: 1.25 in

County Lincoln County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:38 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 was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 17, 4:55 PM MDT	TSTM WND DMG	Genoa, CO	POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN AND ROOF DEBRIS FOUND IN GENOA VICINITY.
Aug 17, 5:08 PM MDT	TSTM WND DMG	5 Wsw Genoa, CO	TWO GRAIN BINS TOPPLED AND CRUSHED

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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 75 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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

839 
WFUS55 KBOU 172238
TORBOU
COC073-172315-
/O.NEW.KBOU.TO.W.0059.150817T2238Z-150817T2315Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
438 PM MDT MON AUG 17 2015

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTH CENTRAL LINCOLN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL COLORADO...

* UNTIL 515 PM MDT
    
* AT 437 PM MDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR LIMON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

  HAZARD...TORNADO AND HALF DOLLAR 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...
  LIMON...HUGO AND GENOA. 

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 3923 10371 3937 10371 3935 10341 3913 10349
TIME...MOT...LOC 2237Z 298DEG 32KT 3931 10373 

TORNADO...RADAR INDICATED
HAIL...1.25IN

$$

COOPER

The 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, 3:17 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	BOU	Douglas, Elbert	28 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 Tornado observed	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, 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, 2015 Every tornado warning in 2015 Tornadoes 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.