Alert archive / Colorado / Tornado Watches in 2019

Tornado Watch 256

May 26, 20198 counties in Colorado

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 26, 2019, 3:46 PM MDT for 8 counties in Colorado. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 2019, 3:46 PM MDT (21:46 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 2019, 7:42 PM MDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Denver County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Washington County, CO, Weld County, CO

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:48 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
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 3:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Weld39 min
May 26, 3:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld48 min
May 26, 4:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUMorgan, Weld30 min
May 26, 4:17 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld28 min
May 26, 4:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld40 min
May 26, 4:34 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe26 min
May 26, 4:39 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld21 min
May 26, 5:04 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld41 min
May 26, 5:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOULincoln43 min
May 26, 5:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUAdams, Arapahoe, Denver32 min
May 26, 5:30 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUAdams15 min
May 26, 5:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld42 min
May 26, 5:42 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld33 min
May 26, 5:47 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULincoln28 min
May 26, 6:10 PM MDTTornado WarningBOUWeld21 min
May 26, 6:13 PM MDTTornado WarningBOULincoln32 min
May 26, 6:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOUWeld49 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 2019-05-26Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2019-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 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
1575 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 11:19 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Bent, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Prowers116 min
May 26, 12:27 PM MDTTornado WatchSPCBaca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Kiowa, Kit Carson and 4 more9 hr
May 26, 2:07 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Larimer and 2 more113 min
May 26, 2:43 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Bent, Cheyenne, Crowley, Kiowa, Kit Carson and 6 more92 min
May 26, 5:04 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Bent, Prowers86 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2019Every tornado watch in 2019

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.