Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2007
EF0 tornado, Seibert, Colorado, July 3, 2007
This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Kit Carson County on July 3, 2007, touching down at 4:29 PM MDT and reaching 10 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
- July 3, 2007
- Touchdown
- 4:29 PM MDT (22:29 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:34 PM MDT (22:34 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 0.5 miles (0.8 km)
- Path width
- 10 yards (9 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Kit Carson County
- Touchdown point
- 39.300, -102.936
- Lift-off point
- 39.300, -102.936
- Record number
- 0707031629-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Thunderstorms developed along a slow-moving cold front in eastern Colorado. Eleven tornadoes occurred in eastern Colorado, as well as strong outflow winds. Most tornadoes remained over rural areas. Isolated severe wind and hail reports also occurred in southwest Nebraska and northwest Kansas.
Tornado developed and dissipated near roads DD, 13. Over open fields...no known damage. This was one of three tornadoes occurring simultaneously in the immediate area.
Tornado developed near roads DD, 13 and dissipated near roads DD, 14. Over open fields...no known damage. This was one of three tornadoes occurring simultaneously in the immediate area.
Tornado developed near roads AA, 13 and dissipated near roads BB, 14. One electric pole was broken and metal debris from a grain bin was also seen. Several dead cattle were reported in the same area. This tornado was one of two observed simultaneously.
Tornado developed near roads AA, 13 and dissipated near roads AA, 14. This tornado was one of two observed simultaneously. Over open fields...no known damage.
Tornado occurred near roads V, 12. Over open fields...no known damage.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
63 minutes of warning. NWS GLD issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:26 UTC, 63 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:26 UTC and running to 04:32 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:26 UTC | 04:32 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | GLD |
| 21:26 UTC | 22:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 21:50 UTC | 22:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 22:24 UTC | 23:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 22:41 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
| 23:44 UTC | 00:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | GLD |
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 20:02 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.
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), 00:00Z
1.5 hours after it, 68 km from the path. July 4, 2007.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1551 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -94 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2225 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2122 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 35 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 8.3 K/km
The radar
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:29 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:26 UTC | TORNADO | 13 N Seibert | Kit Carson, CO | |
| 21:33 UTC | TORNADO | 10 N Seibert | Kit Carson, CO | MULTIPLE REPORTS OF TWO TORNADOES AT THE SAME TIME WITH THE SAME STORM AT ABOUT 2130Z |
| 21:37 UTC | TORNADO | 3 W Seibert | Kit Carson, CO | MULTIPLE REPORTS FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT |
| 21:51 UTC | TORNADO | 12 N Bethune | Kit Carson, CO | |
| 22:10 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Nw Burlington | Kit Carson, CO | |
| 22:37 UTC | TORNADO | 3 W Seibert | Kit Carson, CO | MULTIPLE REPORTS FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT. REPORT CORRECTED FOR TIME OF EVENT. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in ColoradoEvery tornado in Colorado since 1950Warnings in force in Colorado nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of July 3, 2007
13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 3 | 9:37 AM CDT | EF0 | San Jacinto, TX | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| July 3 | 3:14 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| July 3 | 3:21 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 3.0 | 20 | |||
| July 3 | 3:31 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| July 3 | 3:36 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 1.5 | 20 | |||
| July 3 | 3:45 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 0.5 | 20 | |||
| July 3 | 3:45 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 1.0 | 20 | |||
| July 3 | 3:49 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| July 3 | 3:57 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 1.5 | 50 | $15,000 | ||
| July 3 | 3:57 PM MDT | EF1 | Kit Carson, CO | 2.0 | 50 | $15,000 | ||
| July 3 | 4:08 PM MDT | EF0 | Kit Carson, CO | 0.5 | 10 | |||
| July 3 | 9:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Calhoun, IA | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| July 3 | 9:03 PM MDT | EF0 | Bent, CO | 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.