Three landspout tornados occurred around Towner across open fields and caused no damage.
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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 PUB wrote it up.
Three landspout tornados occurred around Towner across open fields and caused no damage.
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 Pueblo, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 27, 11:10 AM MST, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Pueblo CO 1210 PM MDT FRI MAY 27 2016 .UPDATE... Issued at 1203 PM MDT Fri May 27 2016 Updated grids to take down the winter weather highlights for this afternoon. Otherwise expect showers and isolated embedded thunderstorms to regenerate across the southeast mountains and plains this afternoon...with greatest coverage across the mountains and across Kiowa...Bent and Prowers counties. Grids in pretty good shape so only minor tweaks made. -KT && .SHORT TERM...(Today and tonight) Issued at 348 AM MDT Fri May 27 2016 ...Wrap around precip today with windy conditions on the Plans... Currently... Upper low was located over the eastern Plains of CO. A well defined band of wrap-around precip was occurring...extending from the CO/NE/WY line s-sw'd down towards KTAD. Moderate rain was embedded in this ~50 mile wide band of precip. Some embedded IC ltg was noted...especially down towards Walsenburg at 2 am. The weather system producing all of this beneficial precip was located over ec CO Plains. Today...upper low is fcst to intensify over the CO Plains and move slowly in a general southerly direction through today. The 500 mb circulations should be located in far wc KS by 00Z this evening. Banded precip will continue along the I-25 corridor region until about 13 utc and then start to move eastward over the Plains. by 15 utc ~50 mile wide band should extend from roughly just west of KITR s-sw'd towards Kim. By noon the band will pivot around and extend N- S across the far eastern counties of se CO. By this afternoon...precip will become more sctd across the Plains...with the brunt of the activity over the far eastern counties. Some -tsra is likely...but it is not expected to be severe. Over the mtns...best precip chances will be early this morning...with activity becoming more showery by mid morning. Winds will become gusty from the north as the day progresses out over the plains. The strongest winds will likely occur along the LIC- LHX_Kim corridor. Gusts to 35 mph will be possible. Max temps today will be cool with highs only in the 50s across lower elevations of El Paso county...and 60s elsewhere across the Plains. 50s and 60s will occur in the mtns. Lots of clouds are likely today but we should see some some in most locations. Since nearly all of the heavier precip will end by later this morning across the Pikes Peak region...I have changed the expiration date of the winter storms warning for Pikes Peak to noontime (it was 6 pm). Tonight...low will continue to move slowly ne this evening. Precip will linger over the far eastern plains into the evening hours...ending later tonight. Showers in the mtns will end by early to mid evening. Skies will gradually clear. Expect lows in the 40s plains and 30s valleys. .LONG TERM...(Saturday through Thursday) Issued at 348 AM MDT Fri May 27 2016 Active weather looks to continue across southern Colorado through the middle of next week before drier conditions move into the region. Models are in general agreement with the overall pattern with higher confidence through the extended period. Saturday through Monday...the upper pattern will feature a slow moving upper level low over southern California with several disturbances lifting northeast out of the desert southwest into the central plains. This will also bring continued warm weather to the region. A weak disturbance in the flow will move across Colorado on Saturday. Expect scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop by midday over the mountains, which will then spread eastward across the plains through the evening hours. Thunderstorms will be capable of producing small hail and locally heavy rainfall. A stronger disturbance is forecast to lift northward out of New Mexico and into western Kansas on Sunday. Models are developing a dryline out near the Kansas border during the afternoon hours. Thunderstorms are forecast to develop along the dryline Sunday afternoon, but there is some uncertainty as to how far west or east the dryline will be. The GFS solution develops convection in western Kansas with our Colorado plains missing out. The NAM is further west with convection out near the Kansas border. Modest instability and decent shear will likely allow for storms that do develop to become strong to severe. This will need to be monitored. Elsewhere, showers and thunderstorms are expected over the mountains which will likely spread east into the I-25 corridor through the afternoon and evening. Another round of convection is forecast on Monday into Monday night. An upper low over Montana is forecast to send a cold front south Monday evening. Ahead of the cold front, scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected over the mountains, spreading east into the plains during the evening. Flow behind the cold front is forecast to turn northeasterly upslope with increasing chances for widespread showers Monday night across the plains. Temperatures Saturday through Monday will be warm with mid 70s to lower 80s for much of the lower elevations. Tuesday and Wednesday...the upper level low over Montana will slowly move into the northern plains with an upper trough dropping south across Colorado. At the surface, northeasterly to easterly moist upslope flow is forecast to prevail. This, combined with embedded energy with the passing trough, will combine to keep showers and thunderstorms going across much of southern Colorado. If the GFS solution verifies, there could be a period of locally heavy rainfall over the eastern mountains and I-25 corridor Tuesday into Wednesday before clearing out Wednesday afternoon. The GFS solution is also much cooler than what the current grids indicate. The 700 mb temperatures drop to 0-2C over the Palmer Divide Wednesday morning. For now have highs in the 60s to 70s across the region, but would not be surprised if these are too high. The cooler temperatures would also bring lower snow levels with mountain areas seeing possibly another round of decent snowfall for the peak, down to about 9 kft. Thursday...high pressure will build over the Great Basin by late in the week which will bring drier and warmer weather to the region for the later part of the week. Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will likely remain possible over the mountains. Mozley && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Saturday afternoon) Issued at 1110 AM MDT Fri May 27 2016 Upper low over eastern Colorado will continue to shift slowly northeastward today. Precipitation wrapping around western side of this system will continue to threaten KCOS and KPUB terminals with VCSH this afternoon. Winds will remain breezy for both KCOS and KPUB with speeds in the 15-30 kt range. Cigs this morning will remain VFR. A little farther westward, ALS will see less a chance for showers...but could still see VCSH during the afternoon and evening hours. Clouds and showers will decrease quickly during this evening with winds becoming light with speeds under 10 kts. -KT && .PUB Watches/Warnings/Advisories... NONE. && UPDATE...KT SHORT TERM...HODANISH LONG TERM...MOZLEY AVIATION...KT
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 1121 AM MDT FRI MAY 27 2016 COZ058>089-093>099-281730- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST LAKE COUNTY ABOVE 11000 FT- LEADVILLE VICINITY/LAKE COUNTY BELOW 11000 FT- EASTERN SAWATCH MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- WESTERN CHAFFEE COUNTY BETWEEN 9000 AND 11000 FT- CENTRAL CHAFFEE COUNTY BELOW 9000 FT- WESTERN MOSQUITO RANGE/EAST CHAFFEE COUNTY ABOVE 9000FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY WEST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- SAGUACHE COUNTY EAST OF CONTINENTAL DIVIDE BELOW 10000 FT- LA GARITA MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- UPPER RIO GRANDE VALLEY/EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS BELOW 10000 FT- EASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- DEL NORTE VICINITY/NORTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- ALAMOSA VICINITY/CENTRAL SAN LUIS VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- SOUTHERN SAN LUIS VALLEY- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 8500 AND 11000 FT- NORTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT- SOUTHERN SANGRE DE CRISTO MOUNTAINS ABOVE 11000 FT- NORTHWESTERN FREMONT COUNTY ABOVE 8500FT- WESTERN/CENTRAL FREMONT COUNTY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAIN VALLEY BELOW 8500 FT- WET MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 6300 AND 10000FT- WET MOUNTAINS ABOVE 10000 FT- TELLER COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE ABOVE 7500FT/PIKE'S PEAK BETWEEN 7500 AND 11000 FT-PIKES PEAK ABOVE 11000 FT- CANON CITY VICINITY/EASTERN FREMONT COUNTY- NORTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/MONUMENT RIDGE/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7500 FT- COLORADO SPRINGS VICINITY/SOUTHERN EL PASO COUNTY/RAMPART RANGE BELOW 7400 FT-PUEBLO VICINITY/PUEBLO COUNTY BELOW 6300 FEET- WALSENBURG VICINITY/UPPER HUERFANO RIVER BASIN BELOW 7500 FT- TRINIDAD VICINITY/WESTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY BELOW 7500 FT- CROWLEY COUNTY-LA JUNTA VICINITY/OTERO COUNTY- EASTERN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY-WESTERN KIOWA COUNTY- EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY-LAS ANIMAS VICINITY/BENT COUNTY- LAMAR VICINITY/PROWERS COUNTY-SPRINGFIELD VICINITY/BACA COUNTY- 1121 AM MDT FRI MAY 27 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...EAST CENTRAL...SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL BRING LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW ACROSS THE HIGHER PEAKS OF THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION. THE PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. SOME SMALL HAIL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. THE BEST CHANCE OF ANY THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WILL BE OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND OVER THE FAR EASTERN PLAINS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL INITIATE OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND SPREAD EAST ACROSS THE PLAINS. MOST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF LIGHTNING, SMALL HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING, A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE NEAR THE KANSAS BORDER ALONG THE DRYLINE. HAIL MAY APPROACH ONE INCH IN DIAMETER AND WINDS COULD GUST IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. A STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH MORE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE ALONG THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS AND I-25 CORRIDOR. A FEW INCHES OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH WEDNESDAY ABOVE 10000 FEET. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER CONDITIONS THAT MEET REPORTING CRITERIA FOR SPOTTERS WILL BE POSSIBLE MAINLY ABOVE 9000 FEET TODAY. 31/23
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PUEBLO CO 141 PM MDT FRI MAY 27 2016 COZ096-098-272030- LAMAR VICINITY/PROWERS COUNTY CO-EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY CO- 141 PM MDT FRI MAY 27 2016 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHWESTERN PROWERS AND EASTERN KIOWA COUNTIES UNTIL 230 PM MDT... AT 141 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER BRANDON...OR 24 MILES SOUTH OF CHEYENNE WELLS...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 10 MPH. DIME SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... SHERIDAN LAKE...BRANDON AND CHIVINGTON. LAT...LON 3857 10236 3844 10226 3826 10252 3846 10268 TIME...MOT...LOC 1941Z 059DEG 8KT 3847 10240 KT
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:45 UTC.
3 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement witnessed a brief landspout tornado. The tornado caused no damage from which the NWS could assign an EF-scale rating.
A brief landspout tornado was witnessed by a trained spotter. The tornado caused no damage from which the NWS could assign an EF-scale rating.
A storm chaser captured video of a tornado across open country. The tornado caused no damage from which the NWS could assign an EF-scale rating.
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: 626724, 626725, 626726.