Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2007

EF0 tornado, Cheyenne Wells to Arapahoe, Colorado, April 24, 2007

Name: EF0 tornado, Cheyenne Wells to Arapahoe, Colorado, April 24, 2007
Start: 2007-04-24T19:37:00.000Z
End: 2007-04-24T19:45:00.000Z
Location: Cheyenne Wells to Arapahoe, Colorado

From Cheyenne Wells to Arapahoe, this EF0 tornado ran 4.0 miles across Cheyenne County on April 24, 2007, touching down at 1:37 PM MDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

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

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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: EF0
Date: April 24, 2007
Touchdown: 1:37 PM MDT (19:37 UTC)
Lifted: 1:45 PM MDT (19:45 UTC)
On the ground: 8 minutes
Path length: 4.0 miles (6.4 km)
Path width: 25 yards (23 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Cheyenne County
Touchdown point: 38.901, -102.104
Lift-off point: 38.937, -102.170
Record number: 0704241337-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A slow-moving upper low pressure area combined with a surface front to produce numerous tornadoes across Cheyenne county Colorado during the late morning and early afternoon hours.

A single power pole was broken at Roads Z, 43. Otherwise the tornado was over open fields with no known damage. Tornado developed near Roads X, 46 and dissipated near Roads AA, 42.

No known damage...over open fields. Tornado developed near Roads X, 57 and dissipated near Roads Z, 53.

Cone-shaped tornado lasted about 19 minutes. No known damage...over open fields. Tornado developed near Roads CC, 56 and dissipated near Roads GG, 51.

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

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 17:01 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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 24, 3:25 AM MDT, 10 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 3:25 AM MDT, 10 hours 12 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
325 AM MDT TUE APR 24 2007

.DISCUSSION...MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS ARE THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE
WEATHER THIS EVENING AND SNOW MIXED WITH RAIN EARLY WEDNESDAY
MORNING ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA.

THE SURFACE LOW OVER SOUTHEAST COLORADO STALLS OVER SOUTHEAST
COLORADO AS IT DEEPENS IN RESPONSE TO THE DEEPENING UPPER LOW
CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH THE 4-CORNERS REGION AND INTO SOUTHEAST
COLORADO AND SOUTHWEST KANSAS THIS EVENING. WITH THE WARM SECTOR
AHEAD OF THE LOW CURRENTLY ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH A
WARM FRONT AT THE SURFACE THROUGH THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE
FORECAST AREA AND A COLD FRONT ENHANCED BY THUNDERSTORM OUTFLOW
ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA...EXPECT PLENTY
OF MOISTURE TO CONTINUE TO ADVECT INTO MAINLY THE EASTERN SECTIONS
OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH PLENTY OF SHEAR AND MESOSCALE LIFT IN
THE VICINITIES OF THE SURFACE BOUNDARIES AND SYNOPTIC LIFT
ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW LIFTING ACROSS THE HIGH PLAINS. THIS WILL
ALL LEAD TO ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM PRODUCTION LATER TODAY AND
THIS EVENING ACROSS THE TRI-STATE REGION WITH SOME STORMS EXPECTED
TO BECOME SEVERE.

WITH STRONG NORTHERLY FLOW BEHIND THE EXITING SURFACE LOW AND
TEMPERATURES DIPPING INTO THE MID 30S ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTIONS
OF THE FORECAST AREA...IT WILL BE POSSIBLE TO SEE SOME SNOW MIXING
IN WITH THE RAIN SHOWERS LATE TUESDAY NIGHT/EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.

THE NEW TREND HAS BEEN TO COOL TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE LATTER
PART OF THE WEEK. THIS SEEMS REASONABLE GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF
RAINFALL AND CLOUD COVER EXPECTED WITH THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
THAT WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE REGION ALONG WITH ANOTHER SHORT
WAVE TROUGH EXPECTED LATE THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY. THE GFS IS
CURRENTLY MUCH STRONGER WITH THIS NEXT SHORT WAVE TROUGH THAN THE
NAM. WILL NOT PUT ANY PRECIPITATION IN ON THURSDAY NIGHT OR FRIDAY
GIVEN THE POOR AGREEMENT BETWEEN MODELS AND THE NEW MORE MOIST
TREND LATE IN THE WEEK THAT DOES NOT AGREE WITH PRIOR TRENDS...BUT
HAVE TRENDED SLIGHTLY THAT WAY.

THE WEEKEND AND BEGINNING OF NEXT WEEKS ARE STILL LOOKING DRY AND
WARMER AS AN UPPER RIDGE AMPLIFIES OVER THE WESTERN U.S. AND MOVES
OVER THE CENTRAL U.S.

&&

.GLD WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KS...NONE.
NE...NONE.
CO...NONE.
&&

LOCKHART

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 24, 11:16 AM MDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1116 AM MDT TUE APR 24 2007

COZ090>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-251330-
YUMA-KIT CARSON-CHEYENNE CO-CHEYENNE KS-RAWLINS-DECATUR-NORTON-
SHERMAN-THOMAS-SHERIDAN-GRAHAM-WALLACE-LOGAN-GOVE-GREELEY-WICHITA-
DUNDY-HITCHCOCK-RED WILLOW-
1116 AM MDT TUE APR 24 2007 /1216 PM CDT TUE APR 24 2007/

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA...NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EAST CENTRAL COLORADO.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

TORNADO WATCH 172 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR
THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST KANSAS...DECATUR...GRAHAM...NORTON
AND SHERIDAN.

A FLOOD WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT THIS EVENING FOR
THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN NORTHEAST COLORADO...YUMA...THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST KANSAS...CHEYENNE...DECATUR...RAWLINS...AND
THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASDA...DUNDY...HITCHCOCK
AND RED WILLOW. WIDESPREAD FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED AND WILL
CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE DAY ALONG WITH FLASH FLOODING...ESPECIALLY
AS STORMS MOVE OVER AREAS WHICH HAVE PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED
SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF HEAVY RAIN.

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS THE TRI-
STATE REGION LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH EARLY EVENING WITH
THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.
A FEW ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE
TRI-STATE REGION AHEAD OF THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER THAT WILL BE
DEEPENING OVER SOUTHEAST COLORADO AND TRACKING ACROSS SOUTHWEST
KANSAS THIS EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

LOCKHART/BLM

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 24, 12:21 PM MDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before

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Local storm report, Apr 24, 12:33 PM MDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1233 PM MDT TUE APR 24 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1228 PM     HAIL             6 N WILD HORSE          38.91N 103.00W
04/24/2007  E1.00 INCH       CHEYENNE           CO   CO-OP OBSERVER

            HAIL NEARLY COVERING THE GROUND.

&&

BLM

Local storm report, Apr 24, 12:58 PM MDT, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1258 PM MDT TUE APR 24 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1245 PM     TORNADO          12 NW WILD HORSE        38.94N 103.16W
04/24/2007                   LINCOLN            CO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            JUST EAST OF LINCOLN COUNTY LINE NEAR JUNCTION OF
            HIGHWAYS 287 AND 94.

&&

MENTZER

Local storm report, Apr 24, 1:19 PM MDT, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
119 PM MDT TUE APR 24 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1240 PM     TORNADO          WILD HORSE              38.82N 103.00W
04/24/2007                   CHEYENNE           CO   EMERGENCY MNGR

            DAMAGE TO A QUONSET HUT. SOME DEBRIS IN TOWN. POSSIBLE
            DAMAGE TO HOUSE WINDOWS.

&&

MENTZER

Local storm report, Apr 24, 1:32 PM MDT, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
132 PM MDT TUE APR 24 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0131 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     7 N CHEYENNE WELLS      38.92N 102.35W
04/24/2007                   CHEYENNE           CO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

MENTZER

Local storm report, Apr 24, 1:37 PM MDT, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
137 PM MDT TUE APR 24 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0135 PM     TORNADO          7 NW CHEYENNE WELLS     38.89N 102.44W
04/24/2007                   CHEYENNE           CO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

0135 PM     TORNADO          6 N ARAPAHOE            38.94N 102.17W
04/24/2007                   CHEYENNE           CO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

MENTZER

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

7.6 hours before the tornado, 141 km from the path. April 24, 2007.

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 98 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDNR), 00:00Z

4.4 hours after it, 141 km from the path. April 25, 2007.

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -88302 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 550 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 138 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 100 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Burlington (ITR), 38 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:39 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 2007 tornado in Colorado Every tornado in Colorado since 1950 Warnings in force in Colorado now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 24, 2007

22 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Damage
April 24	11:58 AM MDT	EF0	Cheyenne, CO	0.5	10		$25,000
April 24	12:15 PM MDT	EF0	Cheyenne, CO	4.0	25
April 24	12:38 PM MDT	EF0	Lincoln, CO	2.0	50
April 24	12:58 PM MDT	EF0	Lincoln, CO	0.1	50
April 24	2:00 PM CDT	EF1	Hood, TX	0.5	50		$200,000
April 24	2:20 PM CDT	EF0	Denton, TX	1.0	50		$40,000
April 24	1:26 PM MDT	EF1	Cheyenne, CO	4.5	25		$1,000
April 24	1:48 PM MDT	EF0	Wallace, KS	0.5	10
April 24	1:55 PM MDT	EF0	Cheyenne, CO	5.0	50
April 24	2:00 PM MDT	EF0	Cheyenne, CO	0.5	10
April 24	2:00 PM MDT	EF0	Cheyenne, CO	0.5	10
April 24	3:27 PM CDT	EF0	Osage, OK	5.5	100
April 24	6:20 PM CDT	EF0	Barton, MO	2.8	25		$5,000
April 24	7:01 PM CDT	EF0	Reno, KS	0.0	25
April 24	7:01 PM CDT	EF3	Maverick, TX	4.0	400	7	$80 million
April 24	7:09 PM CDT	EF0	Reno, KS	0.0	25
April 24	7:12 PM CDT	EF0	Reno, KS	0.0	25
April 24	7:14 PM CDT	EF0	Reno, KS	0.0	25
April 24	7:16 PM CDT	EF0	Reno, KS	0.0	25
April 24	7:19 PM CDT	EF1	Denton, TX	2.5	50		$100,000
April 24	7:29 PM CDT	EF0	Reno, KS	0.0	25
April 24	7:43 PM CDT	EF1	Franklin, AR	1.0	100		$125,000

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.