Alert archive / Colorado / Red Flag Warnings in 2016

Red Flag Warning 22, NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

September 8, 2016Jackson County, Colorado

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO issued this red flag warning at Sep 8, 2016, 5:20 AM MDT for Jackson County, Colorado. It took effect at Sep 8, 2016, 12:00 PM MDT. It was in force for 7 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 8, 2016, 5:20 AM MDT (11:20 UTC)
In effect from
Sep 8, 2016, 12:00 PM MDT
Expired
Sep 8, 2016, 7:00 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS Denver/Boulder, CO

County Jackson County, CO

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:20 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Grand Junction, CO (KGJT), launched 00:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 251 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, Grand Junction, CO at 00:00Z on 2016-09-08Temperature 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 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Grand Junction, CO at 00:00Z on 2016-09-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
4020 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

369 
WWUS85 KBOU 081120
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
520 AM MDT THU SEP 8 2016

...FIRE DANGER REMAINS HIGH OVER PARTS OF NORTHERN COLORADO...

.WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING ANOTHER AFTERNOON OF DRY...WARM
AND BREEZY CONDITIONS TO NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. CRITICAL FIRE
WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH PARK THIS
AFTERNOON WHERE THE COMBINATION OF LOW HUMIDITIES...GUSTY WINDS
AND DRY FUELS MAY RESULT IN RAPID FIRE GROWTH AND DANGEROUS FIRE
BEHAVIOR.

COZ211-081930-
/O.NEW.KBOU.FW.W.0022.160908T1800Z-160909T0100Z/
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-
520 AM MDT THU SEP 8 2016

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM MDT THIS
EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR NORTH PARK IN
JACKSON COUNTY...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 211...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT
FROM NOON TODAY TO 7 PM MDT THIS EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 211.

* TIMING...RED FLAG CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP BY EARLY AFTERNOON.
  CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPROVE RAPIDLY BY SUNSET AS WINDS
  DIMINISH AND HUMIDITIES INCREASE. 

* WINDS...WEST 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS AROUND 30 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...10 TO 15 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...DANGEROUS FIRE BEHAVIOR AND RAPID FIRE SPREAD WILL BE
  POSSIBLE DUE TO GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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

&&

$$
2 follow-up statements
462 
WWUS85 KBOU 081736
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
1136 AM MDT THU SEP 8 2016

...FIRE DANGER REMAINS HIGH OVER PARTS OF NORTHERN COLORADO...

WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT IS RESULTING IN WARM...DRY...AND BREEZY
CONDITIONS ACROSS THE HIGH COUNTRY OF NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO.
CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTH
PARK THIS AFTERNOON WHERE THE COMBINATION OF LOW
HUMIDITIES...GUSTY WINDS AND DRY FUELS MAY RESULT IN RAPID FIRE
GROWTH AND DANGEROUS FIRE BEHAVIOR. AT 1135 AM WEST WINDS ARE
GUSTING OVER 30 MPH ACROSS NORTHERN JACKSON COUNTY...WHILE RH
VALUES ARE IN THE 10 PCT RANGE. THESE CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST THIS
AFTERNOON.

COZ211-090100-
/O.CON.KBOU.FW.W.0022.160908T1800Z-160909T0100Z/
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-
1136 AM MDT THU SEP 8 2016

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM MDT THIS EVENING
FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR NORTH PARK IN JACKSON
COUNTY...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 211...

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 211.

* TIMING...RED FLAG CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP BY EARLY AFTERNOON. 
  CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPROVE RAPIDLY BY SUNSET AS WINDS 
  DIMINISH AND HUMIDITIES INCREASE.

* WINDS...WEST 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 10 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...DANGEROUS FIRE BEHAVIOR AND RAPID FIRE SPREAD WILL 
  BE POSSIBLE DUE TO GUSTY WINDS AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITIES.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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

&&

$$
328 
WWUS85 KBOU 090057
RFWBOU

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER/BOULDER CO
657 PM MDT THU SEP 8 2016

COZ211-090200-
/O.EXP.KBOU.FW.W.0022.000000T0000Z-160909T0100Z/
JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-
657 PM MDT THU SEP 8 2016

...RED FLAG WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 7 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR WIND
AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR ZONE 211...NORTH PARK IN JACKSON
COUNTY...

HUMIDITY HAS BEGUN TO INCREASE AND RECOVER AND WIND SPEEDS ARE
SLOWLY DECREASING.

$$

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Colorado, 2016Every red flag warning in 2016

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.