High Risk CO?

[Tim Samaras]

Adam:

I could be wrong, but I think that June 6, 1990 was a high risk day in Colorado. This was the day that Limon was struck by an F3 tornado late that afternoon.

I remember being stuck at work, and not able to chase. I also recall that supercell that 'generated' the tornado was extremely high--like 75,000 feet or so. Perhaps others can chime in to correct/add?

After work, I drove to Watkins, and sat on top of 'Indian Mound' (A high hill south of Watkins) and watched that storm. Amazing.

Tim Samaras

 

[MatthewCarman]

I agree about wikipedia when it comes to the articles about past weather events. I have found many events not listed or with little information and some events even leave stuff out. I made an edit to the May 22, 2004 event adding a wind gust to 106 MPH occurred in Iowa and someone removed it so I never bothered adding anything else to the wiki. The wiki is not a good place to go for information on past weather events and I don't use it much myself.

Edit: I do like the wikipedia for information and it is a good resource.

 

[GPhillips]

I could be wrong, but I think that June 6, 1990 was a high risk day in Colorado. This was the day that Limon was struck by an F3 tornado late that afternoon.

I can't remember what time all the outlooks came out back then, but looking at a paper from Heitkamp et al in the 1994 National Weather Digest, he mentioned that the 15Z outlook was for a slight risk for eastern CO and eastern WY. Of course the tornado was during the evening so something could have changed for a later outlook.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

Hi Adam,

We actually request the SPC not highlight High Risk days here in CO, this way all the chasers from other states stay away Just kidding guys...

I've got some links on my laptop at home, but search for case studies on the Limon 1990 tornado Tim mentions. There are a couple of great discussion surrounding this event, particularly with regards to the outflow boundaries involved.

Also, do a search for articles focusing on the DCVZ. A great CO gem, as others have eluded to, which makes even a Slight Risk interesting around these parts!

Tim

 

[Adam Lucio]

I wouldn't worry so much about the risk factors. Just about every experienced chaser here can tell you a story of an amazing storm they've seen on a very marginal day.

Remember, MDT and HIGH risks don't mean chaser friendly storms, it means severe weather in general. All of my greatest storms have come from lower end SPC outlook days which is ironic, especially when people try and argue with me the threat looks meager.

 

[Mark Blue]

Adam:

I could be wrong, but I think that June 6, 1990 was a high risk day in Colorado. This was the day that Limon was struck by an F3 tornado late that afternoon.

I remember being stuck at work, and not able to chase. I also recall that supercell that 'generated' the tornado was extremely high--like 75,000 feet or so. Perhaps others can chime in to correct/add?

After work, I drove to Watkins, and sat on top of 'Indian Mound' (A high hill south of Watkins) and watched that storm. Amazing.

Tim Samaras

I was going through my memory and this is the exact day I was thinking of as I was reading the posts. Now I'm going to have to figure out where to find SPC Outlooks from that era.

 

[Adam Adkins]

I just really want to see something incredible close to home like june 2, 2005. Check out this sexy beast near Limon, CO. (thanks extremeinstablity! + Mike!)

 

[Connor McCrorey]

Adam, I suggest you take a look over here: http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23264

 

[Patrick Martin]

I just really want to see something incredible close to home like june 2, 2005. Check out this sexy beast near Limon, CO. (thanks extremeinstablity! + Mike!)

That storm was right on the edge of a mod risk/slight risk, with the mod extending into far eastern CO.

Adam, I suggest you take a look over here: http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23264

I think that thread is intended for low risk chases that were actually chased by respondents, although I'm sure there will be "I did not chase this day" examples.

 

[Connor McCrorey]

I think that thread is intended for low risk chases that were actually chased by respondents, although I'm sure there will be "I did not chase this day" examples.

I know it is. I'm showing it to Adam so that he might realize it does not always take a MDT or HIGH from SPC to produce a great chase day.

 

[Patrick Martin]

I know it is. I'm showing it to Adam so that he might realize it does not always take a MDT or HIGH from SPC to produce a great chase day.

Ah ok, sorry about that. I misunderstood. My bad.

 

[Adam Adkins]

For my first ever chase I FINALLY convinced my dad to go to Ft. Morgan and promised he wouldn't be sorry. It was slight risk with 10% tornado risk and tornado watch and everything looked great! It was sunny all day with literally no storms. June 5, 2009! Look it up! My dad made a very sad video while driving in eastern CO with nothing but a high overcast around. In the video he says "Here we are in eastern Colorado. This is what Adam brought me to see." Slight risks aren't too reliable but I have had some success off of some.

 

[Verne Carlson]

I can't ever remember a high risk day in CO but as many have mentioned you don't need one to score on the Raton, Palmer or Cheyenne ridges here.

 

[Connor McCrorey]

For my first ever chase I FINALLY convinced my dad to go to Ft. Morgan and promised he wouldn't be sorry. It was slight risk with 10% tornado risk and tornado watch and everything looked great! It was sunny all day with literally no storms. June 5, 2009! Look it up! My dad made a very sad video while driving in eastern CO with nothing but a high overcast around. In the video he says "Here we are in eastern Colorado. This is what Adam brought me to see." Slight risks aren't too reliable but I have had some success off of some.

There's your problem. You're chasing the slight risk. In my opinion, they're just as reliable as any MDT or HIGH. Before you chase, you need to learn to forecast at least a tiny bit. June 5, 2009, was the best day of the year for a lot of chasers.

 

[Tim Stoecklein]

Well, to make you feel a little better Adam, I wasn't chasing SPC outlines that day either, but ended up busting under the same sky as you. My forecast target was at the northern limit of my self-imposed border on this day (due to an evening commitment), and we watched the WY storm from a great distance and on radar from a dirt road near Bennett. Welcome to storm chasing