Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 2016

Tornado Watch 213

May 26, 201613 counties in Colorado

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 26, 2016, 12:04 PM MDT for 13 counties in Colorado. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 2016, 12:04 PM MDT (18:04 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 2016, 7:00 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Bent County, CO, Cheyenne County, CO, Crowley County, CO, El Paso County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Kiowa County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Otero County, CO, Prowers County, CO, Pueblo County, CO, Washington County, CO, Yuma County, CO

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:05 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
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 1:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso48 min
May 26, 1:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso, Pueblo47 min
May 26, 2:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso26 min
May 26, 2:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBLas Animas, Otero, Pueblo53 min
May 26, 2:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso, Pueblo52 min
May 26, 2:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBEl Paso10 min
May 26, 2:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBCrowley, El Paso, Pueblo32 min
May 26, 2:47 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBCrowley, Otero, Pueblo58 min
May 26, 3:03 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln27 min
May 26, 3:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln24 min
May 26, 4:29 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa31 min
May 26, 4:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne41 min
May 26, 4:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDYuma47 min
May 26, 5:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa43 min
May 26, 5:08 PM MDTTornado Warning Tornado observedConsiderable damage threatGLDCheyenne15 min
May 26, 5:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson48 min
May 26, 5:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne, Kit Carson40 min
May 26, 5:24 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDKit Carson21 min
May 26, 5:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson49 min
May 26, 5:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDYuma47 min
May 26, 5:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUBKiowa56 min
May 26, 5:55 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDKit Carson, Yuma65 min
May 26, 5:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDYuma64 min
May 26, 6:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson, Yuma51 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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 2016-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 2016-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 22 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
1579 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

393 
WWUS20 KWNS 261802
SEL3  
SPC WW 261802
COZ000-270100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 213
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1205 PM MDT THU MAY 26 2016

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  EASTERN COLORADO

* EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1205 PM
  UNTIL 700 PM MDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  SCATTERED LARGE HAIL LIKELY WITH ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS
    TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
  SCATTERED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE FOOTHILLS
OF EASTERN CO...AND EVENTUALLY INTO THE EASTERN PLAINS THIS
AFTERNOON.  INTENSE CELLS CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL AND PERHAPS A
TORNADO OR TWO ARE FORECAST.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF PUEBLO
COLORADO TO 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BURLINGTON COLORADO.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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.

&&

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 2:23 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Denver and 9 more2 hr
May 26, 5:46 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKit Carson, Yuma59 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2016Every tornado watch 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.