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A tornado that blew through Garland, Texas, killing eight people Saturday night has been classified as an EF4, with winds up to 200 mph. It was one of two confirmed tornadoes that tore through North Texas in a storm that killed 11 people, including an infant. The National Weather Service confirmed that the tornado that touched… Continue reading Texas tornado’s winds topped 200 mph; 11 dead in storms |
Tag Archives: tornado
Aurora, Colorado tornado rated EF-1
The National Weather Service completed an assessment of the damage caused during yesterday’s severe weather in the Denver metro area. They determined that a tornado did indeed touch down and was responsible for the bulk of the damage in Aurora.
The service said the twister was on the ground for 2.8 miles as it passed through Aurora. It however was not a wide tornado only reaching a maximum of 50 yards. Maximum winds were estimated at 86 to 90 mph giving it an EF-1 rating.
The complete text from the National Weather Service statement follows:
NOUS45 KBOU 251829 CCA PNSBOU COZ030>051-260600- PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED ENDING TIME NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER, CO 1148 AM MDT THU JUN 25 2015 ...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 06/24/2015 TORNADO EVENT... .EAST DENVER/WEST AURORA TORNADO... RATING: EF-1 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 86-90 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 2.8 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 50 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: 06-24-2015 START TIME: 4:48 PM START LOCATION: 39.724808/-104.900896 END DATE: 06-24-2015 END TIME: 5:10 PM END LOCATION: 39.736784/-104.851191 ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24TH BETWEEN 4:48PM AND 5:10 PM, A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN EAST DENVER AND WEST AURORA. THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN NEAR QUEBEC AND 6TH AVE. IT THEN MOVED EAST-NORTHEAST ACROSS THE LOWRY CAMPUS INTO THE WEST PART OF AURORA. THE TORNADO THEN LIFTED NEAR MOUNT NEBO MEMORIAL PARK. BASED ON TREE DAMAGE THERE WAS LOW END EF1 WITH WIND SPEEDS ESTIMATED IN THE 86-90 MPH RANGE. MOST OF THE DAMAGE CAUSED BY THE TORNADO WAS IN THE EF0 RANGE.SOME HOMES HAD MINOR ROOF DAMAGE WITH ONE FORMER APARTMENT BUILDING ON THE LOWRY CAMPUS HAVING SOME HIGHER END ROOF DAMAGE WITH ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS IN THE 86-90 MPH RANGE.THE TORNADO PATH LENGTH BASED ON DAMAGE POINTS WAS 2.8 MILES AND THE WIDTH WAS LESS THAN 50 YARDS. EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES. EF0...WEAK...... 65 TO 85 MPH EF1...WEAK...... 86 TO 110 MPH EF2...STRONG.... 111 TO 135 MPH EF3...STRONG.... 136 TO 165 MPH EF4...VIOLENT... 166 TO 200 MPH EF5...VIOLENT... >200 MPH NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA.
Video: Russian driver pulls out of garage to find self in midst of F3 tornado
An amazing tornado video captured by a dash mounted camera was released on YouTube recently. Apparently taken in Russia on August 29, a surprised driver pulls out of his garage to discover a tornado ripping through the area.
The video begins with the driver backing out of the driveway in heavy rain. As the vehicle turns to face down the road, trees are being pummeled by strong winds and debris from other houses and nearby buildings flies through the air.
After sitting for a scant few seconds – likely struggling to comprehend Mother Nature’s fury that is erupting around him – the driver tries to go back to his garage. As he turns back, the garage collapses before his eyes.
Video added at the end shows extensive damage to cars and homes in the area.
It is believed the video is of an EF-3 rated twister that tore a 28 mile path through Kariyevo.
Two tornadoes touch down in north Denver metro area, minor damage seen
Monday’s forecast called for a chance for thunderstorms but Mother Nature threw in a couple of wildcards in the form of two tornadoes in the area. The landspout tornadoes caused minor damage in north Denver and were widely seen across much of the area.
The first tornado was reported at 3:53pm just across the Adams County line in Weld County near Fort Lupton. The twister was the better defined of the two but appears to have struck farmland with no damage reported.
- Videos: Watch amazing footage of the Weld County tornado below
- In pictures: July photo slideshow has numerous pictures of the tornadoes
At 4:09pm a second tornado was reported near the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Adams County. A diesel repair shop near 51st and Havana had one of its garage doors ripped off and some material thrown about.
Denver International Airport sent travelers to shelters for a period of time and warning sirens were sounded in Brighton, Commerce City and other nearby locations.
Three people on a small boat on Barr Lake were overturned by the strong thunderstorm winds. The trio managed to swim to shore and were not injured.
Tuesday’s weather is not expected to contain quite as much excitement as yesterday’s. However, heavy rain will be possible and a Flash Flood Watch has been issued.
Video captures twin EF-4 tornadoes in Nebraska
Severe weather struck eastern Nebraska on June 16 spawning an amazing four EF-4 rated tornadoes in less than an hour. Two of these were twins, formed from the same supercell thunderstorm at nearly the same time, and stunning video from a resident’s porch shows the beasts.
While this event and the video are a few weeks old, it is well worth sharing. The imagery is a stunning display of Mother Nature’s most violent phenomena.
Timothy Klaustermeier took the video and posted it to YouTube. The nearly seven minute long video shows both tornadoes that spawned near Pilger and lifted north of Wisner. Amazingly the man appears to have been quite calm during the event as the only sounds heard are the roaring of the twisters.
The National Weather Service rated both of these tornadoes as EF4s on the Enhanced Fujita Scale which means they were packing winds of at least 166mph. One traveled over 18 miles, the other nearly 12 miles.
Two other twisters in the same area, one just before and one just after the twins, were also rated EF4s.
Extensive damage was seen in the areas of Pilger and Wisner. Two fatalities were recorded: A five year old girl and a 75 year old man. Sixteen people were critically injured in the storms.
A look back at the most destructive tornado in Denver metro history: June 3, 1981 Thornton, Colorado
June 3, 1981 appeared to be a pretty typical late spring day in the Denver metro area. Afternoon thunderstorms though would become a ‘perfect storm’ and soon the city of Thornton would find itself witness to a tornado that would go down in the Denver weather history books.
Five tornadoes would strike that day but one would become the most infamous. The Thornton tornado would tear through what was then the heart of the city damaging homes and businesses and sending many residents to the hospital.
The twister initially touched down at 2:43 p.m. and ripped across 2 miles of the city. The tornado was rated an F2 on the Fujita Scale packing winds up to 157mph.
Following is a description of the event from the National Weather Service and below that is a slideshow of some photos of the event we have accumulated.
In 1981…severe thunderstorms produced tornadoes over metro Denver. The first tornado touched down at the intersection of Alameda Ave. And Sheridan Blvd. The twister moved north along Sheridan Blvd….damaging businesses…apartment buildings…homes…and vehicles. Over ten homes were unroofed. The roof of one landed in the middle of a neighborhood park. At least 10 mobile homes were wrecked.
The tornado curved to the northeast into northwest Denver… Hopping up and down in several places. Very strong winds outside the actual funnel caused 20 to 30 thousand dollars in damage in downtown Denver. The third floor of one old building was demolished. No major injuries were reported from the tornado…although several people were hurt slightly in traffic accidents on Sheridan Blvd. in the confusion caused by the storm. Damage in Lakewood alone was estimated at 200 thousand dollars.
At the same time… The worst tornado to ever hit metro Denver struck Thornton. Coming from the same thunderstorm that spawned the Denver twister…the Thornton tornado tore a swath through the heart of the city. 87 homes were destroyed…110 others damaged at least moderately. In all…600 homes in a 100 block area sustained some damage. The twister also hit shopping centers…several restaurants…and other buildings. Seven of the 42 injured were considered serious. The storm was strong enough to snap lamp posts in half and drive a 6- inch slab of wood 2 feet into the ground. Damage was estimated at up to 50 million dollars.
The same storm that struck Thornton produced another damaging tornado that touched down in the northwest section of Fort Lupton. This twister damaged 16 homes and numerous cars and campers. Two children were slightly injured when the car they were in was knocked about and its windows shattered by the storm. The twister also damaged two commercial buildings. Damage was very spotty…and observers said the storm hopped up and down at least 3 times. Dollar damage was estimated at 500 thousand dollars.
The thunderstorm complex that produced 3 damaging tornadoes also dropped large hail which damaged many cars over northwest Denver. One to 2 inches of rain fell in less than an hour…flooding a mobile home park with 3 to 4 feet of water on the northwest edge of Denver. The high water damaged about half of the 392 homes in the park. Local flooding was also reported in other areas across metro Denver. A tornado was also sighted near Franktown…but caused no damage. A thunderstorm wind gust to 52 mph was recorded at Stapleton International Airport.
Also see:
- New York Times, June 4, 1981: At Least 40 in Denver Area Are Injured by Tornadoes
- Northglenn-Thornton Sentinel – June 26, 2008 – Off the top
- American Meteorological Society: A Subsynoptic Analysis of the Denver Tornadoes of 3 June 1981
- NCAR: June 26, 1981 press release about the Thornton tornado
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Tornado outbreak hits seven states, kills at least 18 in the South
Tornado activity in the United States had been at record low levels before this weekend. Mother Nature came roaring back to life Sunday however spawning a deadly outbreak of twisters with more expected Monday.
The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center accumulated reports of 31 tornadoes Sunday although the actual number will likely be less once analyzed. Seven states including Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Mississippi reported twisters.
Hardest hit were the towns of Mayflower and Vilonia near Little Rock, Arkansas. Entire sections of the towns were reduced to their base building materials as the twisters struck late in the day Sunday.
Tornado at Denver International Airport rated EF1
The tornado that struck on the grounds of Denver International Airport (DIA) on Tuesday, June 18, 2013 has been rated an EF1 with winds up to 109 mph. The twister came within a half mile of Concourses A and B and sent workers and travelers scrambling to tornado shelters.
Scroll down to see more photos of the tornado.
From the National Weather Service:
A tornado developed on Denver International Airport (DIA) grounds on the afternoon of June 18, 2013. The tornado formed around 2:19 PM just north of 70th Avenue. The tornado then moved slowly northwest between Runway 35R and 35L, and moved to within a half mile of Concourses A and B before dissipating at 2:36 PM. The tornado moved extremely close if not over the ASOS (Automated Surface Observation System) and another low level wind shear sensor at DIA. The ASOS weather observing system reported a 97 mph wind gust at 2:27 PM, while the wind shear sensor reported a wind gust to 109 mph at the same time – indicative of an EF1 tornado. There was only minor damage noted to this equipment. The storm responsible for this tornado first developed just south of the airport, and then drift slowly northward across the eastern side of DIA. At 2:05 PM, there was weak rotation beginning to develop underneath this storm as noted by the velocity data below. This rotation then strengthened quickly between 2:10 and 2:22 PM.
Tornado near Colorado’s Mount Evans rates as second highest on record
With its towering mountains and pristine mountain landscape, Colorado’s high country is not normally associated with tornadoes. Saturday however a rare high altitude twister appeared in the skies and touched down at the second highest altitude a tornado has ever been recorded at. Read the rest of this story on Examiner.com including amazing video.
Second day of storms miss Thornton so ThorntonWeather.com goes on the chase
Mother Nature brought severe weather to northeastern Colorado again yesterday but for the second day in a row Thornton missed out on the action. Since the storms wouldn’t come to us, ThorntonWeather.com went to the storms.
Thornton seems to be in a bit of a ‘storm drought’ of late with most thunderstorms passing us by and yielding little more than a few rain drops. Elsewhere along the Colorado Front Range the story has been much different over the last two days.
The setup was near perfect thanks to the formation of a Denver cyclone with moist air pulling in from the south meeting dry air from the north.
ThorntonWeather.com took off in mid-afternoon and headed east to Bennett, then on to Byers and east on Highway 36. The initial storm cell that was beginning to take shape broke in to three and decisions had to be made on which one to follow.
The southernmost cell seemed to hold the most promise so we headed south, through Limon and tracked the storm near Simla.
The storm would drop tennis ball size hail and push out wind gusts measured at 80mph. As many as four tornadoes were reported to have been caused by the storm, a number which will be confirmed and finalized later today.
In Elbert County, emergency agencies are conducting damage assessments from at least one of the twisters that tore through the central part of the county. Extensive damage to as many as seven homes west of Simla was seen. One person received minor injuries.
Thursday’s storms were the second day in a row for severe weather in the area. On Wednesday thunderstorms brought massive amounts of hail to the southern Denver metro area and Colorado Springs. Tornadoes were also spawned although there was no damage from the twisters.