Alert archive / Colorado / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021
Severe Thunderstorm Watch 124
The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 2, 2021, 11:45 AM MDT for 16 counties in Colorado. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 2, 2021, 11:45 AM MDT (17:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 2021, 6:28 PM MDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Adams County, CO, Arapahoe County, CO, Bent County, CO, Cheyenne County, CO, Crowley County, CO, Douglas County, CO, El Paso County, CO, Elbert County, CO, Kiowa County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Lincoln County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Otero County, CO, Prowers County, CO, Washington County, CO, Yuma County, CO
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:47 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
- 5%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 2%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 50%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 20%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 1:17 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Adams, Logan, Morgan, Washington | 28 min |
| May 2, 1:20 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | El Paso | 25 min |
| May 2, 1:37 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | El Paso | 23 min |
| May 2, 2:01 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Crowley, El Paso, Pueblo | 44 min |
| May 2, 2:13 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Lincoln | 32 min |
| May 2, 2:18 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Crowley, Pueblo | 57 min |
| May 2, 2:39 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Otero, Pueblo | 51 min |
| May 2, 3:07 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Bent, Crowley, Kiowa, Otero | 53 min |
| May 2, 3:28 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Bent, Otero | 32 min |
| May 2, 3:53 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Bent, Kiowa, Otero, Prowers | 52 min |
| May 2, 4:25 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | PUB | Bent, Prowers | 35 min |
| May 2, 4:44 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Bent, Kiowa, Prowers | 61 min |
| May 2, 5:00 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Prowers | 45 min |
| May 2, 5:11 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PUB | Prowers | 34 min |
| May 2, 5:24 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | PUB | Prowers | 51 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 (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 38 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1976 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -89 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 10 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
677 WWUS20 KWNS 021743 SEL4 SPC WW 021743 COZ000-030100- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 124 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1245 PM CDT Sun May 2 2021 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of eastern Colorado * Effective this Sunday afternoon and evening from 1245 PM until 800 PM CDT. * Primary threats include... Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible SUMMARY...Storms will pose a risk for mainly damaging wind as they develop and move through eastern Colorado this afternoon. The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 75 statute miles east and west of a line from 20 miles northwest of Akron CO to 60 miles east of Pueblo CO. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce tornadoes. && AVIATION...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 400. Mean storm motion vector 27035. ...Dial
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 10:14 AM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Clear Creek, Denver and 7 more | 2 hr |
| May 2, 1:15 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cheyenne, Elbert, El Paso, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Morgan and 3 more | 90 min |
| May 2, 2:45 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cheyenne, Crowley, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Lincoln, Phillips and 2 more | 90 min |
| May 2, 4:12 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baca, Bent, Prowers | 93 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Colorado, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021
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.