DENVER (KDVR) — While parts of the Centennial State continue to see snow and wintry conditions, tornadoes have been popping up across the Midwest.
Colorado’s tornado season is traditionally May through August, but we have had tornadoes from February to as late as October.
Deadliest tornado in Colorado history
To this day, the deadliest tornado in Colorado history was the August 10, 1924 tornado.
The National Weather Service said the tornado developed near Thurman, which is about 110 miles east of Denver.
The tornado hit a farm about 4 miles east-northeast of Thurman. There were 27 people at a gathering of the farm, which the NWS said was owned by Henry Kuhns.
There were 10 people killed at the farm. Another person died four months later from injuries they received in the tornado. The NWS said that of the 11 people killed, nine of them were children.
The tornado was estimated to be an EF4 tornado with winds in the range of 166-200 mph.
Tornadoes in Colorado
The Pinpoint Weather Team said that most tornadoes in Colorado happen over the Eastern Plains and are on the lower end of the Enhanced Fujita Scale of tornado intensity.
History shows us that 95% of tornadoes happen along and east of Interstate 25 where heat and moisture in the lower atmosphere are often more abundant, according to the National Weather Service.
On average, Colorado experiences 53 tornadoes on average each year.
For the most part, tornadoes in Colorado happen in the afternoon with the development of thunderstorms.
Do tornadoes ever hit Denver?
Has it happened? Yes. But strong tornadoes in the Denver metro are extremely rare.
On June 15, 1988, Meteorologist Chris Tomer said an EF2 and EF3 tornado hit the Denver metro.
An EF3 tornado hit Windsor in May of 2008. It covered a 39-mile path and caused $100,000,000 in damage, the NWS said.
In June of 2015, an EF1 tornado touched down in East Denver and traveled to Aurora.
Tornadoes in Denver are rare because of the city’s proximity to the foothills and mountains.
“It takes some distance for the thunderstorms to mature, and the wind shear to maximize kind of like a spinning ice skater,” shared Tomer.
The NWS said wind shear describes how the wind changes speed and/or direction with height.
