Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2001

F0 tornado, Limon to Hugo, Colorado, June 9, 2001

Name: F0 tornado, Limon to Hugo, Colorado, June 9, 2001
Start: 2001-06-09T22:35:00.000Z
Location: Limon to Hugo, Colorado

From Limon to Hugo, this F0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Lincoln County on June 9, 2001, touching down at 4:35 PM MDT and reaching 1,320 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mphthis tornado
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.

The record

Rating: F0
Date: June 9, 2001
Touchdown: 4:35 PM MDT (22:35 UTC)
Path length: 0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width: 1,320 yards (1207 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Lincoln County
Touchdown point: 39.100, -103.470
Lift-off point: 39.100, -103.470
Record number: 948

What the Weather Service recorded

A small tornado touched down but did no damage.

A large tornado, between 1/2 mile and 1 mile wide, touched down briefly. No damage however was reported.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

34 minutes of warning. NWS BOU issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:01 UTC, 34 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:40 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
20:14 UTC	21:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	BOU
20:31 UTC	21:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	BOU
21:17 UTC	22:00 UTC	Tornado Warning	BOU
22:01 UTC	22:40 UTC	Tornado Warning	BOU
22:39 UTC	23:15 UTC	Tornado Warning	BOU

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:39 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 9, 3:11 PM MDT, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 9, 3:11 PM MDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before

NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER COLORADO
311 PM MDT SAT JUN 9 2001

SHORT TERM DISCUSSION:  CURRENT RADAR PICTURES ARE INDICATING A GOOD
DEAL OF CONVECTION OVER A GOOD PORTION OF FOOTHILLS AND ADJACENT
PLAINS SOUTH OF I-70.  SMALL HAIL...AND WIND ARE THE MAIN
CONSEQUENCES RIGHT NOW...RAINFALL AMOUNTS SO FAR ARE ALL UNDER 0.20
INCHES.  A PRETTY DECENT DISTURBANCE CAN BE SEEN ON THE WATER VAPOR
PICTURES...AND THERE IS STILL A BIT TO COME IN THE UPSTREAM.  WILL
KEEP PRETTY DECENT POPS ON APPROPRIATE AREAS WITH THE RADAR AND
SATELLITE PICTURES THE PRIMARY FORECAST TOOL FOR THE EVENING.

LONG TERM DISCUSSION:  ON SUNDAY...THE UPPER RIDGE FLATTENS SOMEWHAT
WITH THE WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT INCREASING A BIT.  GRIDS SHOW STEEP
LAPSE RATES AND DECENT POTENTIAL INSTABILITY.  NO SYNOPTIC SCALE
LIFT IS INDICATED HOWEVER.  CONCERNING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE...THE
THETA-E AXIS IS PROGGED WAY EAST TO THE EASTERN BORDER DURING THE
AFTERNOON.  LOOKING AT THE WATER VAPOR PICTURES...SOME WEAK WAVES
COULD MOVE OVER THE FORECAST AREA BOTH SUNDAY AND MONDAY.  FOR
MONDAY...RIDGE FLATTENS MORE WITH THE WESTERLY FLOW ALOFT
INCREASING.  GRIDS SHOW MORE MOISTURE AND SOME WEAK SYNOPTIC SCALE
ASCENT.  CROSS SECTION CONTINUE TO SHOW STEEP LAPSE RATES AND DECENT
POTENTIAL INSTABILITY.  GRID SHOW THE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE PUSHING
FARTHER BACK TO THE WEST FROM SUNDAYS LOCATION.  FORECAST CAPES ARE
HIGHER ON MONDAY THEN SUNDAY.  WILL GO WITH VERY LIMITED POPS ON
SUNDAY IN SOME AREAS...THEN A BIT HIGHER ON MONDAY.  FOR
TEMPERATURES...GRIDS SHOW A SLIGHT WARM-UP FOR SUNDAYS HIGHS...
0-1.5 C...ESPECIALLY IF THE ADVERTISED LESS CLOUDINESS COMES TO
FRUITION.  MONDAYS GRIDS SHOW A SLIGHT COOL DOWN FROM SUNDAYS
HIGHS.

IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD...GRIDS CONTINUE SHOWING A PRETTY DECENT
UPPER TROUGH AND COLDER AIRMASS GETTING INTO THE FORECAST AREA LATE
TUESDAY/EARLY WEDNESDAY.  BY FRIDAY...FLOW ALOFT BECOMES MORE ZONAL
AND MODELS SHOW IT DRYING OUT.  WILL STILL KEEP SOME MENTION OF POPS
IN ON FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. ..HIGHER FOR WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY.    RJK

.DEN...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 9, 3:32 PM MDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
332 PM MDT SAT JUN 09 2001

...PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT FOR JUNE 09 2001...

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0212 PM    11 N LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0214 PM    10 N LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN                        2 SEPRATE TORNADOS ON GROUND

0232 PM    8 NW GENOA                CO   TORANDO
06/09/01   LINCOLN                        LARGE TORNADO 1/2 MILE WIDE
                                          AT TIMES

0315 PM    2 N LIMON                 CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

RAY

Local storm report, Jun 9, 4:10 PM MDT, 25 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
410 PM MDT SAT JUN 09 2001

...PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT FOR JUNE 09 2001...

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0212 PM    11 N LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0214 PM    10 N LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN                        2 SEPRATE TORNADOS ON GROUND

0232 PM    8 NW GENOA                CO   TORANDO
06/09/01   LINCOLN                        LARGE TORNADO 1/2 MILE WIDE
                                          AT TIMES

0315 PM    2 N LIMON                 CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0406 PM    LIMON                     CO   0.88 INCH HAIL
06/09/01   LINCOLN

RAY

Local storm report, Jun 9, 4:25 PM MDT, 10 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
425 PM MDT SAT JUN 09 2001

...PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT FOR JUNE 09 2001...

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0212 PM    11 N LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0214 PM    10 N LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN                        2 SEPRATE TORNADOS ON GROUND

0232 PM    8 NW GENOA                CO   TORANDO
06/09/01   LINCOLN                        LARGE TORNADO 1/2 MILE WIDE
                                          AT TIMES

0315 PM    2 N LIMON                 CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0406 PM    LIMON                     CO   0.88 INCH HAIL
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0402 PM    14 S LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

RAY

Local storm report, Jun 9, 4:25 PM MDT, 10 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO
425 PM MDT SAT JUN 09 2001

...PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT FOR JUNE 09 2001...

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0212 PM    11 N LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0214 PM    10 N LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN                        2 SEPRATE TORNADOS ON GROUND

0232 PM    8 NW GENOA                CO   TORANDO
06/09/01   LINCOLN                        LARGE TORNADO 1/2 MILE WIDE
                                          AT TIMES

0315 PM    2 N LIMON                 CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0406 PM    LIMON                     CO   0.88 INCH HAIL
06/09/01   LINCOLN

0418 PM    14 S LIMON                CO   TORNADO
06/09/01   LINCOLN

RAY

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Denver, CO (KDNR), 12:00Z

10.6 hours before the tornado, 88 km from the path. June 9, 2001.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 47 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -424 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2745 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDNR), 00:00Z

1.4 hours after it, 88 km from the path. June 10, 2001.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 63 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -245 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 726 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 3205 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 19 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Limon Municipal (LIC), 26 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
20:55 UTC	82	57	190° 14 kt		1015.2
21:35 UTC	78.8	51.8	60° 14 kt		1015.9
21:55 UTC	72	53	90° 14 kt		1016.6	-RA
22:26 UTC	66.2	55.4	240° 18 kt	22	1019	RA
22:37 UTC	66.2	50	270° 16 kt	32	1021.3	-RA
22:55 UTC	59	52	250° 8 kt		1022.4	+RA
23:00 UTC	59	51.8	200° 8 kt		1021.7	RA
23:55 UTC	63	51	150° 19 kt	26	1019.6

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:35 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2001 tornado in Colorado Every tornado in Colorado since 1950 Warnings in force in Colorado now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 9, 2001

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 9	3:15 PM EDT	F0	Union, SC	0.5	0
June 9	2:12 PM MDT	F0	Lincoln, CO	0.1	50
June 9	2:14 PM MDT	F0	Lincoln, CO	0.1	50
June 9	2:32 PM MDT	F0	Lincoln, CO	5.0	880
June 9	3:10 PM MDT	F0	Lincoln, CO	0.1	50
June 9	4:18 PM MDT	F0	Lincoln, CO	0.1	50
June 9	6:26 PM EDT	F0	Alpena, MI	0.3	10
June 9	6:35 PM EDT	F1	Gladwin, MI	3.0	30		$90,000
June 9	4:50 PM MDT	F0	Weston, WY	0.5	10	2
June 9	7:10 PM CDT	F1	Emmons, ND	10.0	60	1
June 9	10:01 PM CDT	F0	McPherson, NE	5.0	880		$3,000
June 9	10:26 PM CDT	F0	Brule, SD	0.1	50
June 9	11:40 PM CDT	F0	Miner, SD	0.1	50
June 9	11:58 PM CDT	F0	McCook, SD	0.1	50
June 9	12:14 AM CDT	F0	McCook, SD	0.1	50
June 9	12:40 AM CDT	F0	Brookings, SD	0.1	50

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.