Introduction to Colorado's Severe Weather Week

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOULDER CO
600 AM MDT SUN APR 19 2009

...THUNDERSTORM HAZARDS AROUND THE CORNER...ARE YOU PREPARED?...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM SEASON WILL BE SOON UPON US. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO STAY SAFE AROUND TORNADOES...FLASH FLOODS...LIGHTNING...
HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS?

THIS IS THE WEEK TO LEARN. THIS WEEK...APRIL 19TH TO 25TH IS COLORADO SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK. THIS IS THE TIME TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SEVERE WEATHER IN COLORADO...DEVELOP SEVERE WEATHER PREPAREDNESS PLANS ...AND TEST VITAL COMMUNICATIONS.

CAN WE LEARN LESSONS FROM THE PAST SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS?
JUST LAST YEAR ON MAY 22ND AN EF3 TORNADO RACED NORTH THROUGH WELD AND LARIMER COUNTIES RESULTING IN ONE FATALITY...SEVERAL INJURIES AND DESTROYED OR HEAVILY DAMAGED HUNDREDS OF HOMES. TWO YEARS AGO...ON MARCH 28...2007 THE TOWN OF HOLLY WAS HEAVILY DAMAGED BY ANOTHER EF3 TORNADO THAT RESULTED IN TWO FATALITIES. TWELVE YEARS AGO ON JULY 28 ...1997 A EVASTATING FLASH FLOOD OCCURRED IN FORT COLLINS RESULTING IN 5 FATALITIES AND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DAMAGE.

EACH YEAR FOR THE PAST 20 YEARS THERE HAVE BEEN AN AVERAGE OF 50 TORNADOES IN COLORADO...3 PEOPLE KILLED BY LIGHTNING...AND ANOTHER 15 INJURED BY LIGHTNING.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICES WHICH COVER COLORADO WILL ISSUE A SERIES OF PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENTS DURING THE WEEK COVERING THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:

...ON MONDAY............. WATCHES AND WARNINGS
...ON TUESDAY............ TORNADOES AND TORNADO SAFETY
...ON WEDNESDAY...... FLASH FLOODS AND FLASH FLOOD SAFETY
...ON THURSDAY......... DOWNBURST WIND AND HAIL.
...ON FRIDAY............... LIGHTNING AND LIGHTNING SAFETY
...ON SATURDAY......... A REVIEW OF THE WEEK

A TIME TO TEST YOUR WARNING RECEPTION AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS IS PLANNED. EACH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE SERVING COLORADO WILL SEND TEST TORNADO WARNINGS ON TUESDAY APRIL 21 BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 8 AM MDT AND 11 AM MDT. THESE TEST WARNINGS WILL BE SENT TO THE EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM...THE INTERNET...NOAA WEATHER RADIO...AND LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS.

SAFETY INFORMATION, WATCHES, WARNINGS, FORECASTS, PAST WEATHER AND MUCH MORE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITES:

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/BOU................. NWS DENVER WEB SITE
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PUB................. NWS PUEBLO WEB SITE
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GLD................. NWS GOODLAND WEB SITE
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GJT................. NWS GRAND JUNCTION WEB SITE

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office