Tornadoes · United States · Colorado

2000 tornadoes in Colorado

60 tornadoes touched down in Colorado in 2000, 84 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1999 2001 The whole country in 2000

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.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. 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.

  7. 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 2000

April 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 115:12 PM MDTF0Mesa0.150

April 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 155:05 PM MDTF0Mesa0.250

May 17 27 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1712:40 PM MDTF1Washington0.250
May 1712:52 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
May 1712:54 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
May 1712:58 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
May 171:06 PM MDTF1Washington0.250
May 171:25 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
May 171:35 PM MDTF0Weld0.120
May 171:47 PM MDTF0Weld0.120
May 171:47 PM MDTF0Weld0.120
May 171:55 PM MDTF1Weld0.250
May 172:00 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
May 172:15 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
May 172:35 PM MDTF0Morgan0.120
May 172:42 PM MDTF0Morgan0.120
May 172:45 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
May 172:47 PM MDTF0Morgan0.120
May 172:47 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
May 173:03 PM MDTF0Logan0.120
May 173:05 PM MDTF0Phillips0.120
May 173:08 PM MDTF0Logan0.120
May 173:15 PM MDTF0Phillips0.120
May 173:30 PM MDTF1Logan0.250
May 173:35 PM MDTF0Logan0.120
May 173:40 PM MDTF0Logan0.120
May 173:47 PM MDTF0Logan0.120
May 174:00 PM MDTF1Logan0.250$10,000
May 174:08 PM MDTF0Logan0.120

May 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 254:40 PM MDTF0El Paso0.530$10,000

June 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 512:50 PM MDTF0Saguache0.250

June 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 123:29 PM MDTF0Yuma0.250

June 22 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 221:46 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
June 221:48 PM MDTF0Arapahoe0.120
June 226:03 PM MDTF0Yuma0.250

June 23 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 235:08 PM MDTF0Logan0.120
June 235:29 PM MDTF0Phillips0.120
June 235:33 PM MDTF0Logan0.120

July 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 59:10 PM MDTF3Logan6.01,3202$750,000

July 10 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 108:38 PM MDTF0Adams0.120
July 109:30 PM MDTF0Weld0.120

July 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 124:27 PM MDTF0Morgan0.120

July 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 166:28 PM MDTF0Baca15.050

July 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 1910:05 PM MDTF0Yuma0.210

July 20 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 201:58 PM MDTF0El Paso0.120
July 205:05 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
July 205:21 PM MDTF0Washington0.120
July 206:20 PM MDTF0Baca0.550

July 21 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 215:11 PM MDTF0Las Animas0.550
July 215:50 PM MDTF1Weld8.0440
July 216:22 PM MDTF0Washington0.120

July 22 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 226:56 PM MDTF0Kiowa1.0100
July 227:11 PM MDTF0Kiowa3.0100
July 227:58 PM MDTF0Prowers3.050
July 228:00 PM MDTF0Bent4.0100
July 228:34 PM MDTF0Prowers1.050
July 229:20 PM MDTF0Bent1.0100

September 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 17:43 PM MDTF0Weld0.120

September 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 82:05 PM MDTF1Mesa0.440$1,000

September 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 216:00 PM MDTF1Kiowa12.0100$50,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Colorado since 1950Warnings in force in ColoradoThe 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.