Photo of the tornado near Parker. Image courtesy Jeff Smith and 9News.
Three tornadoes and multiple funnel clouds were reported in Elbert and Douglas counties Sunday evening. At 5:31pm the Centennial Airport tower reported a tornado on the ground five miles southwest of Parker. This was followed by a second tornado reported at 5:47pm six miles northeast of Parker. Lastly, a third twister was spotted three miles west of Castle Rock reported by trained spotters at 6:03pm.
News video showed the tornadoes weaving through relatively unpopulated areas interspersed wtih some houses. Authorities currently report no major damage.
Tornado warnings were issued but have now expired. As always, please be aware of the weather situation around you and when a danger presents itself, take appropriate action.
Update, 8/25/08, 7:50am – Reports are varying on the actual number of tornadoes that touched down. We have seen reports as low as two twisters to as many as a dozen. Chances are the actual number is toward the lower end of that range as oftentimes the same tornado is reported by multiple spotters with different descriptions of their locations. The National Weather Service investigates these and at some point in the future will determine the true number of tornadoes.
Park County tornado near Eleven Mile Reservoir. Image courtesy 7News and Jerry Bivens.
In a truly unusual weather occurence, a tornado struck near Eleven Mile Reservoir in Park County Saturday afternoon. Certainly we are all used to hearing about twisters along the Front Range and on the plains but mountain tornadoes are quite rare – the rugged terrain usually disrupts the weather patterns necessary to product tornadoes. Authorities estimate five vehicles were damaged including a motorhome and pickup truck camper that were overturned, a trailer was destroyed. Beyond cuts and scrapes, thankfully no one was injured.
Colorado is ranked ninth in the country with an average of 40 tornadoes a year. It is interesting to note that every state in the union – including Alaska and Hawaii – have had tornadoes.
Doing some research at the TornadoProject.com yields an interesting fact as well. This was Park County’s first tornado ever. That leaves 12 of Colorado’s 64 counties that have never had a tornado including:
Clear Creek
Dolores
Garfield
Gilpin
Gunnison
Hinsdale
Lake
Montrose
Ouray
San Juan
San Miguel
Summit
It does serve as a reminder that while the unofficial severe weather season is behind us, Colorado’s weather is anything but boring and everyone should be aware of all the types of weather hazards that are possible.
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