Alert archive / Colorado / Red Flag Warnings in 2015

Red Flag Warning 13, NWS Goodland, KS

April 15, 2015Cheyenne County, Kit Carson County, Colorado

NWS Goodland, KS issued this red flag warning at Apr 15, 2015, 8:30 AM MDT for Cheyenne County, Kit Carson County, Colorado. It took effect at Apr 15, 2015, 1:00 PM MDT. It was in force for 7 hr. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 2015, 8:30 AM MDT (14:30 UTC)
In effect from
Apr 15, 2015, 1:00 PM MDT
Expired
Apr 15, 2015, 8:10 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS

Counties Cheyenne County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:36 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 15, 4:25 PM MDTTSTM WND GST 58Burlington, CO

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 12:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 104 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 2015-04-15Temperature 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 12:00Z on 2015-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -37 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2567 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-8 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.

222 
WWUS83 KGLD 151430
RFWGLD

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
830 AM MDT WED APR 15 2015

...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS EXPECTED TODAY INTO THIS
EVENING...

.SOUTHWEST WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS WILL COMBINE
WITH EXTREMELY LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY TO CREATE CRITICAL FIRE
WEATHER CONDITIONS FOR A MAJORITY OF KIT CARSON AND CHEYENNE
COUNTIES OF COLORADO. 

COZ253-254-160300-
/O.NEW.KGLD.FW.W.0013.150415T1900Z-150416T0300Z/
KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-
830 AM MDT WED APR 15 2015

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM
MDT THIS EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE
WEATHER ZONES 253 AND 254...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT
FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 9 PM MDT THIS EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA...IN COLORADO...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 253 KIT CARSON 
  AND FIRE WEATHER ZONE 254 CHEYENNE CO.

* WINDS...SOUTHWEST 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH. 

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 8 PERCENT.

* TEMPERATURES...IN THE MID 60S.

* IMPACTS...ANY OUTDOOR FIRES SHOULD BE AVOIDED AS FIRES WILL GROW
  AND SPREAD RAPIDLY. 

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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

&&

$$

FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT...
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/GLD (ALL LOWER CASE)
1 follow-up statement
675 
WWUS83 KGLD 160210
RFWGLD

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
810 PM MDT WED APR 15 2015

...RED FLAG WARNING...

COZ253-254-160315-
/O.CAN.KGLD.FW.W.0013.000000T0000Z-150416T0300Z/
KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-
810 PM MDT WED APR 15 2015

...RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE
HUMIDITY FOR FIRE WEATHER ZONES 253 AND 254...

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

CONDITIONS HAVE IMPROVED THIS EVENING AND A RED FLAG WARNING IS NO
LONGER NEEDED. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH WITH GUSTY WINDS BUT
COOLER TEMPERATURES AND INCREASED RELATIVE HUMIDITY PRECLUDE THE
NEED FOR A RED FLAG WARNING.

$$

FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT...
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/GLD (ALL LOWER CASE)

The office that day

Everything else NWS Goodland, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 4:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson49 min
Apr 15, 4:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson, Yuma43 min
Apr 15, 5:35 PM MDTSpecial Weather StatementGLDKit Carson25 min

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Colorado, 2015Every red flag warning 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.