A severe thunderstorm produced a tornado in Washington County.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS BOU wrote it up.
A severe thunderstorm produced a tornado in Washington County.
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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 1:45 AM MST, 9 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 245 AM MDT SAT AUG 16 2008 .SHORT TERM...UPPER LEVEL LOW SPINNING OVER NWRN CO EARLY THIS MORNING AND WILL MOVE SLOWLY SE TO JUST SOUTH OF DENVER BY 12Z SUN. FAVORABLE QG ASCENT IS FCST OVER AREA THRU TONIGHT ALTHOUGH QG VERTICAL VELOCITIES ARE RATHER WEAK. APPEARS ONE DISTURBANCE IS MOVING ACROSS AREA EARLY THIS MORNING WHICH AFTER IT PASSES MAY LEAD TO SOME SUBSIDENCE FOR A WHILE BEFORE NEXT FEATURE AFFECTS AREA FM THE AFTN INTO THE EVENING HOURS. UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE IS FAVORABLE FM THIS AFTN INTO TONIGHT AS WELL WHICH SHOULD HELP ENHANCE PCPN. ONE THING THAT WILL HAVE TO BE WATCHED WILL BE THE LOW LEVEL WND PTRN WHICH IS FCST TO BE SELY WHICH COULD FOCUS THE MORE SIGNIFICANT PCPN TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF DENVER. NOT SURE HOW MUCH HEAVY RAIN WILL OCCUR AS IT WILL BE HARD TO GET WIDESPREAD TSTM DEVELOPMENT EAST OF THE DIVIDE DUE TO VERY COOL TEMPS. MODEL QPFS VARY AS GFS HAS 24 HR AMOUNTS IN THE .50 TO 1.00 INCH RANGE WHILE THE NAM HAS TWICE AS MUCH. IN THE MTNS SNOW LEVELS WILL PROBABLY STAY AROUND 11000 FEET TODAY BUT MAY DECREASE TO AROUND 10000 FEET BY TONIGHT AS MAIN UPPER LEVEL LOW GETS CLOSER TO THE AREA. COULD SEE SOME ACCUMULATIONS ONCE AGAIN ON THE HIGHER PEAKS. HIGH TEMPS TODAY PROBABLY WILL BE SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY AS ABUNDANT CLOUD COVER AND PCPN REMAIN OVER THE AREA. .LONG TERM...MODELS AGAIN IN INCREDIBLE AGREEMENT WITH TRACK OF UPPER LOW...FROM NORTHWESTERN CORNER OF COLORADO 12Z SATURDAY TO SOUTHEASTERN CORNER OF THE STATE 12Z MONDAY. THIS WILL PROVIDE CONTINUED LIFT WITH MOIST AIRMASS IN PLACE TO PRODUCE HIGH POPS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN OVER THE CWA THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. THE FLOOD WATCH WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON SUNDAY...THEN DOWNWARD FORCING ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE UPPER LOW WILL BEGIN TO DRY OUT THE AIRMASS AND RESULT IN LOWER POPS FROM THE NORTH AND WEST SUNDAY AFTERNOON INTO EVENING. SUNDAY WILL BE CLOUDY MOST OF THE DAY...WITH DOWSLOPE WINDS COMMENCING IN THE AFTERNOON...SO TEMPERATURES WILL BE A BIT WARMER...GUIDANCE TEMPS IN LOWER 70S LOOK REASONABLE. THE REAL WARMUP BEGINS ON MONDAY AS THE UPPER LOW SLIDES AWAY FROM COLORADO AND WARMER AIR ALOFT MOVES INTO NORTHEAST COLORADO. IT ALSO LOOKS DRYER...SO LOWERED POPS A BIT ON MONDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL CONTINUE TO RISE THROUGH THURSDAY AS ZONAL FLOW DEVELOPS AHEAD OF ANOTHER PACIFIC NORTHWEST TROUGH. .AVIATION...PERIODS OF SHOWERS ALONG WITH AN ISOLD TSTM WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT. WILL LIKELY SEE VARYING PERIODS OF MVFR TO IFR CONDITIONS DEPENDING ON INTENSITY OF RAINFALL. WINDS WILL BE LIGHT AND VARIABLE THIS MORNING AND THEN BECOME ESE THIS AFTN INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS WITH SPEEDS AROUND 10 MPH. && .BOU WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...FLOOD WATCH NOW THROUGH 18Z SUNDAY FOR ALL THE PLAINS AND FOOTHILLS...ZONES 35>51. && RPK/RTG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1119 AM MDT SAT AUG 16 2008 COZ030>051-171200- JACKSON COUNTY BELOW 9000 FEET-WEST JACKSON AND WEST GRAND COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-GRAND AND SUMMIT COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND EAST JACKSON/LARIMER/NORTH AND NORTHEAST GRAND/ NORTHWEST BOULDER COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST GRAND/WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST BOULDER/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/ SUMMIT/NORTH AND WEST PARK COUNTIES ABOVE 9000 FEET-LARIMER AND BOULDER COUNTIES BETWEEN 6000 AND 9000 FEET-JEFFERSON AND WEST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET/GILPIN/CLEAR CREEK/NORTHEAST PARK COUNTIES BELOW 9000 FEET-CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PARK COUNTY-LARIMER COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTHWEST WELD COUNTY-BOULDER AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES BELOW 6000 FEET/WEST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-NORTH DOUGLAS COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/DENVER/WEST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES/ EAST BROOMFIELD COUNTY-ELBERT/CENTRAL AND EAST DOUGLAS COUNTIES ABOVE 6000 FEET-NORTHEAST WELD COUNTY-CENTRAL AND SOUTH WELD COUNTY-MORGAN COUNTY-CENTRAL AND EAST ADAMS AND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES- NORTH AND NORTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/NORTH LINCOLN COUNTY-SOUTHEAST ELBERT COUNTY BELOW 6000 FEET/SOUTH LINCOLN COUNTY-LOGAN COUNTY-WASHINGTON COUNTY-SEDGWICK COUNTY-PHILLIPS COUNTY- 1119 AM MDT SAT AUG 16 2008 ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS AND PLAINS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LIGHT TO MODERATE RAINFALL FROM SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. AREAS...ESPECIALLY THOSE OVER AND ALONG THE FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS MAY SEE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND SMALL HAIL THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN FALLING ON ALREADY SATURATED SOILS MAY RESULT IN FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS... CREEKS...UNDERPASSES AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS. IN THE MOUNTAINS... PRECIPITATION WILL FALL AS SNOW AT ELEVATIONS GENERALLY ABOVE 10000 FEET THROUGH TONIGHT. IN THESE AREAS ANOTHER 2 TO 5 INCHES OF SNOW COULD ACCUMULATE BY LATE THIS EVENING. AN UNSEASONABLY COLD AND VERY MOIST LATE SUMMER STORM SYSTEM CURRENTLY CENTERED OVER NORTHWEST COLORADO IS FORECAST TO TRACK VERY SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD TO OVER SOUTHEAST COLORADO BY LATE TONIGHT. FOR THAT REASON UPSLOPE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE MAINLY IN AREAS EAST OF THE CONTINENTAL DIVIDE AT LEAST THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES THROUGH MIDDAY SUNDAY AS RAIN WILL CONTINUE ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. DRIER AIR AND DOWNSLOPE WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP...LATER SUNDAY AND THE WET PERIOD WILL COME TO AN END SUNDAY EVENING. A WARMER AND DRYER PERIOD COMMENCES MONDAY AND CONTINUES MOST OF THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. BAKER/COOPER
The Denver radar (KFTG), 126 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:59 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
The tornado touched down briefly but did no damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Colorado, 2008Warnings in Colorado, August 2008
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: 122878.