A line of thunderstorms developed in eastern Colorado during the late afternoon hours and eventually intensified, containing several embedded supercells. One supercell produced a tornado in extreme southern Kit Carson county which lasted 4 minutes.
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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 GLD wrote it up.
A line of thunderstorms developed in eastern Colorado during the late afternoon hours and eventually intensified, containing several embedded supercells. One supercell produced a tornado in extreme southern Kit Carson county which lasted 4 minutes. Later, a severe wind gust was reported by the ASOS station just south of Burlington.
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 May 18, 3:47 PM MST, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 447 PM MDT TUE MAY 18 2010 .DISCUSSION... 1156 AM MDT TUE MAY 18 2010 A MID/UPPER TROUGH OVER THE CENTRAL GREAT BASIN AREA IS PROGGED TO CONTINUE MOVING EAST WHILE EMERGING OVER THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS LATE WEDNESDAY. STRONG LARGE SCALE FORCING FOR ASCENT WILL ARRIVE OVERNIGHT SUPPORTING WIDESPREAD TSRA ALONG NOSE OF LLJ. PLENTY OF AVAILABLE MOISTURE WITH PWATS ~200% OF NORMAL SUPPORTING SOME POCKETS OF HEAVY RAIN IN ADDITION TO HAILERS. MAINTAINED HIGH POPS THROUGH WED NIGHT AS H5 LOW TRANSLATES OVER THE AREA. TRENDED POPS DOWN AFTER 18Z THU AS LARGE SCALE FORCING FOR SUBSIDENCE DEVELOPS ACROSS THE AREA AS THE MID/UPPER TROUGH MOVES INTO THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AREA. RISING TEMPS/DRY CONDITIONS ARE ON TAP FRI AS MID/UPPER RIDGE AMPLIFIES ACROSS THE GREAT PLAINS. SAT-TUE...AT THE START OF THE PERIOD, SEASONABLY WARM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITH SFC CYCLOGENESIS PROGGED ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO. H85-H7 THERMAL RIDGE SUPPORTS MAXIMUM VALUES IN THE UPPER 80S/POSSIBLY REACHING 90. WARM H7 TEMPS SHOULD PRECLUDE DEEP MOIST CONVECTION AND REMOVED AFTERNOON/EVENING MENTION FROM PREVIOUS FORECAST. SUN-TUE...A LONGWAVE TROUGH IS PROGGED TO REMAIN ACROSS MUCH OF THE WEST THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH SSW MID/UPPER FLOW PROGGED ACROSS THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS. THIS APPEARS TO BE A FAVORABLE PATTERN FOR DEEP MOIST CONVECTION AND PERIODS OF SEVERE WEATHER AND GENERALLY FOLLOWED THE PREVIOUS THEME WITH DIURNAL TSRA. && .AVIATION... 447 PM MDT TUE MAY 18 2010 FOR 00Z TAFS...DIFFICULT TO TIME THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING. THE RUC INDICATES STORMS SHOULD START IMPACTING BOTH KGLD AND KMCK BY 03Z. AS THE UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO BEAR DOWN ON NORTHWEST KANSAS OVERNIGHT...MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND STORMS WILL BRING MVFR AND IFR CONDITIONS TO BOTH SITES WHICH SHOULD PERSIST THROUGH MOST OF THIS TAF PERIOD. FS && .GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KS...NONE. NE...NONE. CO...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1029 AM MDT TUE MAY 18 2010 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-191600- YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON- SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA- DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 1029 AM MDT TUE MAY 18 2010 /1129 AM CDT TUE MAY 18 2010/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL IN EXCESS OF GOLFBALL SIZE...DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING ALONG AND WEST OF A YUMA TO TRIBUNE LINE. STORMS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REST OF THE AREA OVERNIGHT WITH THE THREAT TRANSITIONING TO LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN OVERNIGHT. THE HEAVY RAIN COULD CAUSE SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING IN AREAS SUCH AS GOVE...LOGAN...SHERIDAN AND GRAHAM COUNTIES WHERE SOME HEAVY RAIN FELL SATURDAY NIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...MAINLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70 AS A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES OVER THE AREA. LARGE HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN ARE THE PRIMARY THREATS. THE GREATEST THREAT FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE GENERALLY EAST OF A LINE FROM WRAY COLORADO TO GOODLAND AND GOVE KANSAS. AN ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THIS WEEKEND THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK AS A LARGE STORM SYSTEM DEVELOPS OVER THE ROCKIES...BRINGING THE THREAT FOR MORE SEVERE WEATHER. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS EXPECTED AFTER 1 PM MDT ALONG AND WEST OF A YUMA TO TRIBUNE LINE.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
650 PM MDT TUE MAY 18 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0644 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 12 N FIRSTVIEW 39.00N 102.56W
05/18/2010 CHEYENNE CO TRAINED SPOTTER
&&
HENDERSONThe Goodland radar (KGLD), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:49 UTC.
1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The tornado developed from a well-defined wall cloud and lasted approximately 4 minutes. The tornado remained over rural, open country with no known damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Colorado, 2010Warnings in Colorado, May 2010
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: 220745, 220746.