Home / Colorado / Custer

EF0 tornado in Custer County, Colorado

Tornado July 22, 2019 · Custer County, Colorado

EF0

Rating

0.5 mi

Path length

20 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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 near William Avenue in

Westcliffe, CO on the evening of July 22, 2019, traveling in

a southeast to northwest direction. A continuous path of damage

was seen for one-third of a mile before lifting as it crossed

Vista Dr. No further visible damage was seen beyond this point

but witnesses said the tornado touched down again before

nearing Wolf Street and then lifted for a final time.

Much of the damage included canopies, carports, RVs, and gazebos.

No primary residence damage was seen outside of a few missing

shingles, peeled up metal roofing, and a few blown in windows by

flying debris. One carport awning was lifted off the ground nearly

100 feet and then carried nearly 100 yards before it was dropped

onto a nearby roof. No injuries were reported.

The wider storm

A rather rare event took place on July 22, 2019 in the town of Westcliffe, CO, a tornado touched down. The last time a tornado touched down in Westcliffe, elevation of 8,500 feet, was back in the mid 1980s, per anecdotal evidence from the local population.

The tornado touched down near William Avenue traveling in a southeast to northwest direction. A continuous path of damage was seen for one-third of a mile before lifting as it crossed Vista Dr. No further visible damage was seen beyond this point

but witnesses said the tornado touched down again before nearing Wolf Street and then lifted for a final time. Much of the damage included canopies, carports, RVs, and gazebos. No primary residence damage was seen outside of a few missing

shingles, peeled up metal roofing, and a few blown in windows by flying debris. One carport awning was lifted off the ground nearly 100 feet and then carried nearly 100 yards before it was dropped onto a nearby roof. No injuries were reported.

Began near Westcliffe (38.2000, -105.4600).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 847786. 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.