Tornado, Morgan
- When
- May 30, 3:50 PM MST to 4:01 PM MST
- Where
- Morgan County, 5 mi SW of Ft Morgan
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 1 mi
- Path width
- 880 yd
- Property damage
- $150,000
- Coordinates
- 40.200, -103.870
Tornado in Colorado, May 30, 1996
Twin tornadoes developed 5 miles southwest of Fort Morgan. Although one of the twisters dissipated quickly; the other caused substantial damage to a farmstead.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $150,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
Twin tornadoes developed 5 miles southwest of Fort Morgan. Although one of the twisters dissipated quickly; the other caused substantial damage to a farmstead. A teenager trapped in the home was uninjured when he took shelter in the basement. The tornado lifted the roof off the house temporarily and broke several windows. Also, the roof of a vacant dairy barn nearby was completely torn off. A car, 2 dump trucks and 2 pickups used in the families' tree service business were completely destroyed. One dog and several of the family cats were killed. Debris was spread approximately 300 yards across the area.Not too far away, the tornado also tossed an empty 5,000 gallon propane storage tank 500 yards and a nearly full 250 gallon storage tank 600 yards. Estimated damage to property in Morgan County was around $150,000.
The radar
The Denver radar (KFTG), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:52 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- 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
- Tornado in Colorado, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, May 30, 1996
- Tornado in Nebraska, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Hail in Wyoming, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Cold in New York, May 30, 1996
- Cold in Pennsylvania, May 30, 1996
- Hail in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Hail in Texas, May 30, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Texas, May 30, 1996
More
Every storm in Colorado in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Colorado, 1996Warnings in Colorado, May 1996
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: 5553753.