Tornadoes · United States · Colorado

1991 tornadoes in Colorado

76 tornadoes touched down in Colorado in 1991, 133 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1990 1992 The whole country in 1991

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Colorado in 1991

May 2 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 2	3:30 PM MDT	F0	Elbert	0.2	10
May 2	3:45 PM MDT	F1	Elbert	1.0	27
May 2	4:15 PM MDT	F0	Lincoln	0.2	10
May 2	4:30 PM MDT	F1	Lincoln	0.2	27	$50,000 to $500,000
May 2	4:45 PM MDT	F0	Lincoln	0.1	10
May 2	6:48 PM MDT	F1	Phillips	2.0	27	$50,000 to $500,000

May 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 5	3:30 PM MDT	F0	Chaffee	0.2	10			$5,000 to $50,000

May 11 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 11	9:10 PM MDT	F0	Baca	2.0	27

May 16 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 16	2:38 PM MDT	F0	Logan	0.2	10
May 16	2:46 PM MDT	F0	Washington	0.2	10
May 16	3:20 PM MDT	F0	Kit Carson	0.2	10
May 16	3:24 PM MDT	F0	Kit Carson	0.2	10
May 16	6:45 PM MDT	F0	Yuma	0.2	10
May 16	8:30 PM MDT	F0	Douglas	0.2	10
May 16	9:30 PM MDT	F0	Douglas	0.2	10

May 22 9 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 22	6:22 PM MDT	F0	Douglas	0.2	10
May 22	6:54 PM MDT	F0	Elbert	0.2	10
May 22	6:55 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.2	10
May 22	7:20 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.2	10
May 22	7:21 PM MDT	F0	Elbert	0.2	10
May 22	7:24 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.2	10
May 22	7:30 PM MDT	F0	Elbert	0.2	10
May 22	7:36 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	3.0	50
May 22	7:50 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.2	10

May 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 23	3:41 PM MDT	F0	Lincoln	0.2	10

May 24 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
May 24	11:20 AM MDT	F0	Arapahoe	0.2	10
May 24	3:17 PM MDT	F0	Adams	0.2	10
May 24	3:19 PM MDT	F0	Arapahoe	0.2	10

May 26 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 26	6:02 PM MDT	F0	Kit Carson	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000
May 26	6:10 PM MDT	F0	Kit Carson	0.1	10

May 27 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 27	7:10 PM MDT	F0	Morgan	0.2	10

May 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 28	4:45 PM MDT	F0	Kit Carson	0.2	10

May 29 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 29	6:40 PM MDT	F0	Washington	0.2	10
May 29	6:56 PM MDT	F1	Washington	14.0	50
May 29	7:40 PM MDT	F0	Washington	7.0	27	$5,000 to $50,000
May 29	8:46 PM MDT	F0	Phillips	0.2	10
May 29	8:51 PM MDT	F0	Yuma	0.2	10

May 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 31	9:48 PM MDT	F0	Morgan	0.2	10

June 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 1	2:00 AM MDT	F1	Washington	6.0	100

June 2 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 2	6:00 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10
June 2	6:26 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10

June 6 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 6	3:30 PM MDT	F0	Las Animas	0.4	100	$50,000 to $500,000
June 6	4:33 PM MDT	F0	Adams	1.0	50
June 6	6:21 PM MDT	F0	Arapahoe	0.1	10
June 6	6:40 PM MDT	F1	Arapahoe	0.1	10

June 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 7	1:05 PM MDT	F0	Yuma	0.1	10

June 9 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 9	4:51 PM MDT	F1	Weld	2.0	50
June 9	5:02 PM MDT	F0	Weld	1.0	50
June 9	6:04 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10

June 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 10	3:52 PM MDT	F0	Douglas	6.0	50

June 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 16	3:20 PM MDT	F1	Saguache	6.5	100			$50,000 to $500,000

June 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 18	7:55 PM MDT	F0	Logan	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

June 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 19	6:54 PM MDT	F0	Morgan	0.1	10

June 21 10 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
June 21	5:20 PM MDT	F0	Elbert	0.1	10
June 21	5:22 PM MDT	F0	Elbert	0.1	10
June 21	6:05 PM MDT	F0	Elbert	0.1	10
June 21	6:50 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.1	10
June 21	7:16 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.1	10
June 21	7:17 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.1	10
June 21	7:45 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.1	10
June 21	8:16 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.1	10
June 21	8:16 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.1	10
June 21	8:21 PM MDT	F0	El Paso	0.1	10

June 22 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 22	2:40 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10
June 22	3:29 PM MDT	F0	Larimer	0.1	10
June 22	4:10 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	50	$50,000 to $500,000
June 22	6:31 PM MDT	F0	Logan	0.1	10
June 22	7:20 PM MDT	F0	Washington	0.1	100
June 22	9:00 PM MDT	F0	Washington	0.1	10

July 25 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)
July 25	4:22 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10
July 25	4:43 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10
July 25	5:02 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10
July 25	5:35 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10
July 25	5:37 PM MDT	F0	Weld	0.1	10

August 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 12	4:40 PM MDT	F0	Arapahoe	0.1	10

August 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 22	3:40 PM MDT	F0	Adams	0.1	10

Nearby

Every tornado in Colorado since 1950 Warnings in force in Colorado The live radar over Colorado

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.