Tornado, Kit Carson
- When
- June 4, 10:40 AM MST
- Where
- Kit Carson County, 15 mi N of Stratton
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.1 mi
- Path width
- 20 yd
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 39.517, -102.600
Brief touchdown. No damage.
Tornado in Colorado, June 4, 2003
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
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 forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 4, 8:41 AM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 4, 8:41 AM MST, 1 hour 59 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 941 AM MDT WED JUN 4 2003 WILL BE HAVING TO MAKE CHANGES IN THE FORECAST...MAINLY FOR PRECIPITATION. PRECIPITATION IS EXPANDING ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO AND IS MOVING EAST STEADILY. PRECIPITATION LOOKS TO BE DRIVEN BY GOOD SURFACE MOISTURE CONVERGENCE...700 TO 500 MB SHORTWAVE...AND SPEED DIVERGENCE FROM 250 MB JET. THESE FEATURES STAY IN PLACE OR STEADILY MOVE TOWARD THE EAST. ALSO TO MAKE THINGS MORE INTERESTING A SURFACE BOUNDARY IS DIVIDING THE FORECAST AREA IN A NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST HALF. ONE SURFACE LOW IS NEAR GOODLAND WITH ANOTHER OVER SOUTHEAST COLORADO. ONLY MODEL THAT LOOKS TO HAVE A CLUE ON SURFACE PATTERN IS THE RUC. HOWEVER...IT IS NOT CATCHING THE THE SOUTHEAST COLORADO LOW VERY WELL EVEN THOUGH IT KEEPS THE BOUNDARY. THE RUC THEN EXPLODES PRECIPITATION FROM WEST TO EAST ALONG THIS BOUNDARY IN THE AFTERNOON. AS IT LOOKS NOW...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. HIGHEST CHANCES WILL BE SOUTHWEST AND WEST AND WILL BE LOWEST IN THE NORTHEAST...AND WILL TIER IT THAT WAY. WILL UPDATE WINDS USING THE RUC. TEMPS ARE IN THE MID TO UPPER 50S IN COLORADO AND UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S OVER THE REST OF THE AREA. WILL PROBABLY LOWER MAXES A LITTLE DUE TO THE CURRENT/EXPECTED CLOUD COVER AND PRECIPITATION. .GLD...NONE. BULLER
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 4, 10:30 AM MST, 10 minutes before
COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-051200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1130 AM MDT WED JUN 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST KANSAS...EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A MOIST AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE AIR MASS REMAINS IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION. NUMEROUS SURFACE BOUNDARIES ARE ALSO DRAPED ACROSS THE AREA. A COUPLE OF UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEMS AND MODERATELY STRONG JET STREAM WINDS WILL INTERACT WITH THE AIR MASS AND BOUNDARIES TO PRODUCE SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA. THE AIR MASS IS COLD IN THE MIDDLE LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE...SO HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS. IN ADDITION...ANY THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG A BOUNDARY WILL ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE FUNNEL CLOUDS AND PERHAPS A BRIEF TORNADO. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO OCCUR WITH SOME OF THE STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT AS JET STREAM WINDS ALOFT TRANSPORT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES ACROSS THE AREA. AT THIS TIME...THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA. BULLER/DLF
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 4, 10:03 AM MST, 37 minutes before
COZ091-KSZ013-041800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1103 AM MDT WED JUN 4 2003 ...FUNNEL CLOUDS SIGHTED OVER KIT CARSON AND SHERMAN COUNTIES... AT 11 AM MDT TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE SIGHTED OVER SHERMAN COUNTY ABOUT THREE MILES WEST OF GOODLAND. TWO MORE FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE SPOTTED NEAR FLAGLER COLORADO IN KIT CARSON COUNTY. THE CLOUDS DISSIPATED BEFORE REACHING THE GROUND. CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR FUNNEL CLOUD FORMATION. STAY TUNED FOR WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS REGARDING THIS SITUATION. MENTZER
The radar
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:42 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
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Texas, June 4, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, June 4, 2003
- Tornadoes and Hail in New Mexico, June 4, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, June 4 to 5, 2003
- Damaging Winds in Texas, June 4, 2003
- Lightning Strikes in Oklahoma, June 4, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Texas, June 4, 2003
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, June 4, 2003
- Hail in New Mexico, June 4, 2003
- Hail in Oklahoma, June 4, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Oklahoma, June 4 to 5, 2003
- Tornadoes in Kansas, June 4, 2003
More
Every storm in Colorado in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Colorado, 2003Warnings in Colorado, June 2003
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: 5360183.