Every year or two, the Valley becomes abuzz over the sighting of a tornado or funnel cloud; however, it is generally a cold air vortex that poses little to no threat to those in the region. However, what touched down on Wednesday, July 30, was confirmed by the US Weather Service in Pueblo as an EF-0 tornado with wind speeds of 85 miles per hour. Thankfully, the tornado mostly landed in open fields, and the damage was limited to three power lines and a mailbox at Coleman Hereford Ranch.
The US Weather Service report stated, āThere was a confirmed tornado in Custer County on July 30, roughly one mile west of the Silver West Airport, south of Westcliffe and Silver Cliff. The tornado lasted roughly from 3:10 to 3:15 p.m. and traveled .34 miles to the southwest and was roughly 20 yards wide.ā
Tornadoes are rare in the mountains primarily because the cooler mountain air is more stable, which often limits the size and rotation of large thunderstorms. However, severe and damaging tornadoes are not unheard of. According to a story published in Colorado Central Magazine in July 2014, written by Allen Best, āThe highest ever recorded in the United States was at 12,000 feet in Sequoia National Forest in California. That was in 2004. The second-highest was at an elevation of 11,900 feet on Mount Evans, southwest of Denver, in 2012. The most destructive tornado at a higher elevation shredded a 24-mile path through Yellowstone National Park and the Teton Wilderness Area in 1987. In some places, the swath was a mile and a half.ā
ā Jordan Hedberg
