After an EF-1 tornado was estimated in Highlands Ranch on Thursday, we're taking a look at how common tornadic activity is in Colorado.
The state sees an average of 27 tornadoes during May and June, with June being the busiest month with an average of 17 tornadoes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. There have been 2,125 tornado events recorded in Colorado and at least five deaths related to twisters since 1950.
The most tornado-prone county in Colorado — and the entire country — is Weld County, which has seen 268 tornadoes since 1950. The city and county of Denver has seen 16 tornadoes in the same period.
Back in 2012, the National Weather Service charted tornadoes in Colorado by county over the previous six-plus decades. You can see the highest totals fall across the eastern plains, with fewer in the metro and extremely rare tornadic activity in the mountains.
The biggest tornado event that struck Denver was on June 15, 1988. Seven people were injured when an F-3 tornado touched down in the southern part of the city, cutting an erratic path 2.5 miles long. The storm damaged 85 buildings and several cars and uprooted trees.
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The injuries were minor, but according to NWS reports, very traumatic for some of those involved. A golfer was thrown 40 feet but was not hurt. A man clinging to a telephone pole was unscathed but lost both of his shoes. A woman holding a baby was sucked through a broken window of a convenience store, but neither the woman nor the baby was hurt.
Tornadic activity doesn't always occur in the usual places in Colorado. Although extremely rare, tornadoes and funnel clouds have been spotted on the Western Slope and in high-altitude areas. There have been three tornado touchdowns in Park County, occurring on June 8, 2014, Aug. 18, 2009, and Aug. 23, 2008. In 2011, a tornado was documented on Mount Evans with an elevation of 11,900 feet. And on June 20, 1975, an F2 tornado touched down in Pitkin County.
Part of northeastern Colorado is included in what's called the NWS Goodland County Warning Area (CWA), which covers 19 counties in Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado – also known as the "Tri-State Area."
Back in 2018, the NWS charted the number of annual tornadoes in the CWA over the previous 68 years, and the graph shows the number has grown in recent years.
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