Tornado, Kiowa
- When
- May 31, 4:20 PM MST to 4:40 PM MST
- Where
- Kiowa County, Chivington to Granada
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 17.5 mi
- Path width
- 100 yd
- Coordinates
- 38.430, -102.530
Tornado in Colorado, May 31, 1996
The largest, most destructive tornado on the 31st touched down near the Chivington Reservoir in Kiowa county at 520 pm MDT. It moved southeast at high speed, crossing US 385 at about 535 pm MDT and the Kiowa/Prowers county line at around 540 pm MDT.
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
- None recorded
- 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 PUB wrote it up.
The largest, most destructive tornado on the 31st touched down near the Chivington Reservoir in Kiowa county at 520 pm MDT. It moved southeast at high speed, crossing US 385 at about 535 pm MDT and the Kiowa/Prowers county line at around 540 pm MDT. By the time the tornado dissipated (shortly after crossing into northern Prowers county) it was close to 1/4 mile wide. Along its path, the tornado destroyed 5 grain bins (mostly empty), the north side of a cinder block barn, and damaged the roof and fiberglass siding of a mobile home.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
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
- Tornadoes in South Dakota, May 31, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Hail in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Tornadoes in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Louisiana, May 31, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Flash Flood in Kansas, May 31, 1996
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, May 31, 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: 5554336.