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EF1 tornado in Washington County, Colorado

Tornado August 8, 2023 · Washington County, Colorado

EF1

Rating

15.6 mi

Whole path

25 yd

Path width

$1.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Washington County → Yuma County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 25 yards (0.01 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado touched down in an open field just southeast of Otis and continued to move east-southeast throughout eastern Washington County. As it approached County Road ZZ it lifted a garage off its foundation anchoring, and shifted it. The garage door also imploded and about 10% of roof structure was lost. Other damage included snapped trees and broken wood power poles, with lesser damage to outbuildings. The tornado continued to track east-southeast into Yuma County.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms produced damaging wind and hail over parts of Douglas, Elbert, Lincoln, Logan and Washington counties. The largest hail occurred in Logan and Washington counties, where it ranged from from 2 1/2 to 4 inches in diameter. In addition, two tornadoes briefly touched down in Washington County; one produced EF1 damage. The tornado lifted a garage off its foundation anchoring, and shifted it. The garage door also imploded and caused some roof damage. Other damage on the farm included snapped trees and broken wood power poles. Some lesser damage was observed to some outbuildings. Lastly, straight-line winds damaged the shingles of a manufactured home and flipped a small barn.

Began near Otis (40.1455, -102.9141).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1130710. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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