Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 144

May 8, 20158 counties in Colorado; 4 counties in New Mexico

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 8, 2015, 2:00 PM MDT for 8 counties in Colorado; 4 counties in New Mexico. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 8, 2015, 2:00 PM MDT (20:00 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2015, 9:00 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Bent County, CO, Crowley County, CO, El Paso County, CO, Huerfano County, CO, Las Animas County, CO, Otero County, CO, Pueblo County, CO, Teller County, CO, Colfax County, NM, Harding County, NM, Quay County, NM, Union County, NM

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:00 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
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 2:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBHuerfano, Las Animas23 min
May 8, 2:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBPueblo34 min
May 8, 2:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso, Pueblo28 min
May 8, 2:43 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBPueblo32 min
May 8, 2:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBHuerfano, Las Animas24 min
May 8, 2:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso, Pueblo31 min
May 8, 3:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBHuerfano, Las Animas, Pueblo33 min
May 8, 3:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBPueblo32 min
May 8, 3:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBPueblo35 min
May 8, 3:42 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBHuerfano, Las Animas, Otero, Pueblo33 min
May 8, 4:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBPueblo34 min
May 8, 4:12 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBLas Animas, Otero, Pueblo33 min
May 8, 4:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso, Pueblo61 min
May 8, 4:39 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBOtero, Pueblo36 min
May 8, 5:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBOtero25 min
May 8, 5:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBOtero47 min
May 8, 6:03 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBPueblo42 min
May 8, 6:09 PM MDTTornado WarningPUBOtero36 min
May 8, 6:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent, Otero23 min
May 8, 7:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent, Otero29 min
May 8, 7:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBOtero58 min
May 8, 7:21 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningPUBOtero4 hr
May 8, 7:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBBent, Otero54 min

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, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 258 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 2015-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 2015-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
602 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 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.

742 
WWUS20 KWNS 081956
SEL4  
SPC WW 081956
COZ000-NMZ000-090300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 144
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
200 PM MDT FRI MAY 8 2015

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  SOUTHEASTERN COLORADO
  NORTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO

* EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 200 PM UNTIL
  900 PM MDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A FEW TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  SCATTERED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER LIKELY
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...INCLUDING A FEW SUPERCELLS
CAPABLE OF HAIL AND TORNADOES...EXPECTED OVER WATCH AREA THROUGH
MID-EVENING.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 50 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
COLORADO SPRINGS COLORADO TO 65 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF CLAYTON
NEW MEXICO.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 142...WW 143...

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23020.


...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 1:37 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrowley, El Paso, Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero, Pueblo83 min
May 8, 4:44 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrowley, El Paso, Huerfano, Las Animas, Otero, Pueblo and 1 more91 min
May 8, 8:31 AM MDTTornado WatchSPCCurry, Roosevelt7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2015Tornado Watches in New Mexico, 2015Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.