Home / Colorado / Elbert

EF2 tornado in Elbert County, Colorado

Tornado June 7, 2012 · Elbert County, Colorado

EF2

Rating

7.5 mi

Whole path

880 yd

Path width

Injury

$50K

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 and produced moderate to severe damage to numerous homes and other farm buildings in southern Elbert County. One person suffered minor injuries.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms brought damaging wind and hail, heavy rain, along several tornadoes, one of which was rated an EF-2. The storms produced hail from 1.5 to 2.75 inches in diameter. In addition to the large hail, heavy rainfall from 1 to 2 inches also accompanied the storms. The combination of hail and heavy rain caused extensive street flooding across Aurora, Castle Rock, Centennial, Cherry Creek, Englewood, South Denver, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood and Littleton. The hail was reportedly knee deep in several areas making roads impassable. As a result, snow plows had to be summoned to clear the streets. In Castle Rock, a King Soopers supermarket sustained extensive damage when roof partially collapsed under the weight of the hail. Total property damage estimates along the Front Range for the 6th and 7th combined was 321.1 million dollars.

A tornado touched down in Elbert County Thursday evening, June 7th, producing considerable damage to homes and several farm buildings in south central Elbert County. The tornado was rated an EF-2 at it's strongest point near Elbert County Road 82 and just west of Elbert County Road 97. The tornado initially touched down approximately at County Road 101 about 1 mile north of County Road 90, and then traveled south-southwest into El Paso County. It was approximately one half mile wide at one point and produced a debris width of 1.5 miles. One minor injury occurred due to broken glass. Two other tornadoes touched down but did no damage. In Elbert County alone, at least 136 homes were damaged; 32 sustained moderate to severe damage.

Severe thunderstorms also produced large hail and damaging winds across parts of Larimer, Weld and Morgan Counties. In Weld County, a flash flood washed out a section of State Highway 392 just east of Lucerne. During the storm, a culvert underneath the road was washed out in addition to a section of the roadway, approximately a 30 foot by 30 foot section.

Began near Simla (39.1996, -104.1995).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

3 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF0 Weld County EF0 Elbert County EF0 Arapahoe County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 387851. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.