Tornado and Hail in Colorado, July 21, 1973

Name: Tornado and Hail in Colorado, July 21, 1973
Start: 1973-07-21T13:26
End: 1973-07-21T18:30
Location: Colorado

July 21, 1973 · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $250,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

3 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Clear Creek

When: July 21, 1:26 PM CST
Where: Clear Creek County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 39.750, -105.400

Thunderstorm Wind, Elbert

When: July 21, 1:45 PM CST
Where: Elbert County
Coordinates: 39.520, -104.500

Tornado, Douglas

When: July 21, 2:45 PM CST
Where: Douglas County
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.3 mi
Path width: 10 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 39.530, -104.730

Hail, Otero

When: July 21, 4:15 PM CST
Where: Otero County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 37.800, -103.600

Hail,

When: July 21, 6:30 PM CST
Where: County
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Coordinates: 39.500, -102.030

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Colorado in 1973 Every state in 1973 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Colorado, 1973

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 9989276, 9989277, 9989278, 9989279, 9989280.