Tornadoes · United States · Colorado

2013 tornadoes in Colorado

27 tornadoes touched down in Colorado in 2013, 17 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2012 2014 The whole country in 2013

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 2013

April 8 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 86:17 PM MDTEF0Kit Carson0.110
April 87:24 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150
April 87:42 PM MDTEF0Washington0.250
April 88:51 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150

May 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 81:54 PM MDTEF0Prowers0.175

May 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 204:53 PM MDTEF0Alamosa0.175

May 27 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 273:38 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne0.350
May 273:49 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne0.350
May 274:37 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne0.350

May 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 299:50 AM MDTEF0Rio Blanco1.040

June 4 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 45:13 PM MDTEF0Otero2.2100
June 45:53 PM MDTEF0Lincoln0.150

June 13 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 135:53 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150
June 136:15 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150
June 136:32 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150

June 17 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 174:49 PM MDTEF0Kit Carson0.350
June 175:34 PM MDTEF0Otero6.0100

June 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 182:21 PM MDTEF1Denver2.475

July 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 252:20 PM MDTEF0Prowers1.1100
July 253:09 PM MDTEF0Baca1.175

August 3 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 32:00 PM MDTEF0Morgan0.150
August 33:37 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150
August 34:07 PM MDTEF0Lincoln0.150
August 34:17 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150$5,000
August 34:29 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150
August 35:24 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150
August 35:40 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150

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.