EF2 Tornado — Arapahoe, Colorado

2025-05-18 · near Arapahoe Park, Arapahoe, Colorado

Event narrative

Larger tornado touched down just south of I-70, captured as a dusty cone tornado on a CDOT web camera, before entering into Bennett in Adams County Colorado where it produced EF2 damage to numerous properties. The tornado made a jog to the east and then lifted just north of 38th Ave.

Wider weather episode

Four tornadoes occurred just to the south and east of metro Denver in the early afternoon of Sunday, May 18th.

The first tornado that produced damage in northwest Elbert County was an uncharacteristically strong landspout, as well as the last tornado that occurred northeast of Bennett. The other two tornadoes were more strongly associated with a parent thunderstorm, known as a supercell.

The first is for the initial tornado, rated EF2, in and near the Elkhorn neighborhood of extreme northwest Elbert County, Colorado. The second is an EF1 that occurred south

of Manila Village. The third and fourth tornadoes were both ranked EF2. These tornadoes tracked just to the west and north of Bennett, Colorado. They were two separate tornadoes, and were both on the ground at the same time between 140 pm and 146 pm.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (39.7200, -104.4900)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1298721. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.