Tornadoes · United States · Colorado

2010 tornadoes in Colorado

71 tornadoes touched down in Colorado in 2010, 118 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2009 2011 The whole country in 2010

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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. 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.

  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 2010

April 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 136:59 PM MDTEF0Kit Carson0.510

April 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 215:09 PM MDTEF0Las Animas2.750

April 22 20 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 221:05 PM MDTEF0Bent4.7100
April 221:08 PM MDTEF0Bent2.550
April 221:35 PM MDTEF0Bent0.650
April 221:48 PM MDTEF0Bent1.9150
April 221:57 PM MDTEF0Bent0.650
April 222:22 PM MDTEF0Kiowa3.450
April 222:29 PM MDTEF1Kiowa7.2200$1,000
April 222:36 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.450
April 222:45 PM MDTEF0Kiowa2.650
April 222:55 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.725
April 222:56 PM MDTEF0Kiowa1.450
April 223:00 PM MDTEF0Kiowa1.275
April 223:12 PM MDTEF0Kiowa1.250
April 223:28 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.150
April 223:38 PM MDTEF0Adams0.150
April 224:24 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne2.375
April 224:40 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne1.450
April 225:12 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne2.675
April 225:52 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne1.125
April 226:05 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne1.425

April 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2311:17 AM MDTEF0Lincoln0.150

May 15 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 151:59 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150
May 152:16 PM MDTEF0Weld3.850

May 18 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 183:36 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150
May 185:23 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150
May 186:50 PM MDTEF0Kit Carson1.625
May 187:21 PM MDTEF0Kiowa2.375$10,000

May 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 237:12 PM MDTEF1Baca7.9100$9,000

May 25 15 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 253:31 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.050
May 253:31 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.175
May 253:32 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.175
May 253:37 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.4100
May 253:41 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.250
May 253:48 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.150
May 253:48 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.350
May 253:55 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.375
May 253:56 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.150
May 253:56 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.250
May 254:07 PM MDTEF0Kiowa1.275
May 254:18 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.250
May 255:20 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.150
May 257:52 PM MDTEF0Baca1.175$10,000
May 258:00 PM MDTEF1Baca2.5300$5,000

May 26 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 261:30 PM MDTEF0Denver0.150
May 263:30 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150

May 31 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 312:55 PM MDTEF2Baca2.8400$20,000
May 313:07 PM MDTEF0Baca0.375
May 316:09 PM MDTEF2Baca9.2300$30,000

June 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 88:29 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.150

June 10 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 106:52 PM MDTEF0Arapahoe0.150
June 107:20 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150
June 107:46 PM MDTEF0Washington0.1100
June 109:27 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150

June 11 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 115:27 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.150
June 117:10 PM MDTEF0Lincoln0.150

June 21 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 214:54 PM MDTEF0Morgan0.150
June 215:03 PM MDTEF0Morgan0.150
June 215:56 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150
June 217:10 PM MDTEF1Yuma11.825$380,000

July 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 49:15 PM MDTEF1Lincoln0.1100$25,000

July 15 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 157:23 PM MDTEF0Kiowa0.775
July 157:55 PM MDTEF0Prowers0.150$10,000

July 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 185:45 PM MDTEF0Logan0.150

August 9 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 97:42 PM MDTEF0Washington0.050
August 97:44 PM MDTEF1Washington0.150

August 16 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 161:57 PM MDTEF0Arapahoe0.150
August 162:16 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.150
August 163:54 PM MDTEF0Morgan0.150
August 164:17 PM MDTEF1Morgan0.3100$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.