Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms moved into East Central Colorado during the latter half of the afternoon. During the late afternoon a few of the storms produced a widespread swath of wind damage with wind speeds estimated up to 90 MPH.
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 GLD wrote it up.
Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms moved into East Central Colorado during the latter half of the afternoon. During the late afternoon a few of the storms produced a widespread swath of wind damage with wind speeds estimated up to 90 MPH. A wall of dust was reported along the leading edge of these intense winds. Kit Carson County law enforcement closed westbound traffic from Cheyenne Wells west on Highway 40 for two hours due to debris in the roadway. Highway 287 south of Kit Carson was also closed due to semis being blown over from the intense winds. Two tornadoes were reported ahead of the widespread damaging winds. One north of Seibert and one south of Kit Carson. No damage was reported with these tornadoes since they were over open country.
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 26, 12:48 PM MST, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Goodland KS 148 PM MDT THU MAY 26 2016 .SHORT TERM...(This evening through Friday) Issued at 148 PM MDT Thu May 26 2016 Across the Tri State region this afternoon...a mix of psunny to msunny skies as the region lies west of a warm front currently over the central portion of Kansas. Temps are ranging in the lower to mid 70s w/ dewpts ranging from the 45f to 50f west to the lower to mid 60s east due to the proximity to a warm front. To our west...a slow moving upper low over the 4-corners region of the country will make its way towards the Tri State region overnight. Do expect areal coverage of trw to increase as the afternoon/evening hours progress...which will be in tandem to the approach of the upper low to our southwest. Strong shear...current sb cape values approaching 1500-3000 j/kg especially in locales closest to the warm front...could produce severe storms with tornadoes. The area could also see 1-2" hail...winds 60-70mph or higher with any storms. Training of thunderstorms could also bring heavy rainfall and potential flooding to some areas. The combination of these these factors has put the area into mainly an enhanced to moderate risk for severe wx...which has resulted in a tornado watch for the cwa until 01z-03z. Going into Friday with the upper low will begin to move over the cwa...model dynamics for severe wx will shift east of the cwa...but do expect trw/rw thru the day due to the slow mvmnt of the system. For temps...overnight lows tonight and daytime highs Friday will be highly dependent on areal coverage of clouds/precip over the area. Looking for lows to range in the lower to mid 50s and highs Friday to range from the mid 60s west to the mid 70s east. .LONG TERM...(Friday night through Thursday) Issued at 110 PM MDT Thu May 26 2016 Upper low will be moving over the area Friday night which result in widespread showers and thunderstorms through the evening hours then gradually pulling out to the northeast after midnight. Some light precipitation may linger in the far northeast counties around McCook through Saturday morning before ending. There will be a limited severe threat early Friday evening but as the surface cold front sweeps through the severe threat will end relatively early Friday night. Storms on Saturday afternoon will be isolated and tied to surface heating in the higher terrain of eastern Colorado/Palmer Divide. Upper forcing will be quite weak with only a hint of a shortwave trough in the zonal flow. Surface instability will also be weak so do not think there will be much of a severe threat. An increase in activity is expected on Sunday as the upper flow becomes southwest with a weak embedded shortwave trough. Moderate instability is forecast but deep layer shear of only 20-30kts will probably keep any severe threat on the low end. The unsettled pattern continues into early next week with a cut off low over the northern plains resulting in general troughiness across the central plains. However by the middle of the week that system will lift into central Canada with shortwave ridging trying to build over the central Rockies and adjacent plains. As a result expect precipitation chances to decrease and temperatures increase during that time. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Friday afternoon) Issued at 1132 AM MDT Thu May 26 2016 Scattered thunderstorms will develop around mid afternoon as upper low approaches from the central Rockies. Some of those storms may become severe with large hail and damaging winds. Storms will become more widespread this evening as the upper low moves onto the plains. Overnight...low clouds and areas of fog will be possible due to low level upslope winds and plenty of low level moisture available. Low cigs and reduced visibilities may persist into Friday morning. && .GLD Watches/Warnings/Advisories... KS...NONE. CO...NONE. NE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...JN LONG TERM...024 AVIATION...024
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 1031 AM MDT THU MAY 26 2016 COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-271645- YUMA COUNTY-KIT CARSON COUNTY-CHEYENNE COUNTY-CHEYENNE-RAWLINS- DECATUR-NORTON-SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE- GREELEY-WICHITA-DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW- 1031 AM MDT THU MAY 26 2016 /1131 AM CDT THU MAY 26 2016/ THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL COLORADO... EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND NORTHWEST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AND INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY BY THIS AFTERNOON...AND CONTINUE INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA...SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL GREATER THAN 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER AND STRONG TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE PERIOD. EVEN THOUGH WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED... A FEW STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE FROM FRIDAY INTO MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 453 PM MDT THU MAY 26 2016 COZ091-262315- KIT CARSON COUNTY CO- 453 PM MDT THU MAY 26 2016 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHEASTERN KIT CARSON COUNTY UNTIL 515 PM MDT... AT 453 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF BURLINGTON...MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH. NICKEL SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 50 TO 55 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... BURLINGTON. THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING HIGHWAYS... INTERSTATE 70 IN COLORADO NEAR MILE MARKER 437...AND BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 440 AND 447. HIGHWAY 385 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 186 AND 206...AND NEAR MILE MARKER 211. THIS STORM MAY INTENSIFY...SO BE CERTAIN TO MONITOR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS AND AVAILABLE TELEVISION STATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM MDT FOR EAST CENTRAL COLORADO. LAT...LON 3957 10211 3933 10206 3928 10229 3957 10243 TIME...MOT...LOC 2253Z 165DEG 17KT 3938 10220 DR
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Touched down roughly two miles east of Highway 287 just south of CR C. The landspout moved little if any during its lifetime. No damage was reported as it remained in unpopulated areas of the county.
The intense thunderstorm winds blew the roof off the house. Two people in the house were directly injured from the thunderstorm winds.
Trained spotter estimated 90 MPH wind gusts as the storms moved through.
Two to possibly three roofs have collapsed in town and numerous trees have been blown down. Several semis have also been blown over Highway 287 and there are power lines across the highway due to power poles being blown down.
Highway 40 was closed to westbound traffic due to debris in the roadway.
A tornado was reported north of Seibert. Based on radar imagery at the time of the report the tornado developed near the CR Z and Highway 59 intersection on the east side of the highway. The tornado then moved north-northeast before ending northeast of the CR DD and CR 16 intersection. No damage was reported with this tornado due to moving over open country.
A trained spotter estimated gusts of 60 MPH from the approaching storms.
Wind gusts of 60-74 MPH were measured at the Burlington airport during this time. The peak wind gust occurred at 5:14 PM MST. The peak sustained wind was 61 MPH.
Trees, power lines and power poles down in and around the Burlington area as well as other locales around the county.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Colorado, 2016Warnings in Colorado, May 2016
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: 627723, 632663, 632353, 632351, 632662, 632354, 633478, 632350, 632355, 632356, 632352.