Tornadoes · United States · Colorado

2015 tornadoes in Colorado

54 tornadoes touched down in Colorado in 2015, 66 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2014 2016 The whole country in 2015

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 2015

April 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 25:50 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne1.025

April 17 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 173:18 PM MDTEF0Yuma0.325
April 175:47 PM MDTEF0Yuma0.525

April 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 181:40 PM MDTEF0Washington0.150

April 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 235:51 PM MDTEF1Sedgwick0.160$25,000

May 7 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 74:59 PM MDTEF1Baca0.350$3,000
May 76:36 PM MDTEF0Weld0.150

May 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 86:12 PM MDTEF0Otero0.850

May 9 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 93:40 PM MDTEF0Lincoln0.050
May 93:41 PM MDTEF0El Paso3.3100
May 94:27 PM MDTEF0Kiowa1.150
May 94:30 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.150
May 94:40 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.150
May 94:50 PM MDTEF0Kiowa11.1150$3,000
May 95:20 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne2.110
May 95:35 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne1.025

May 15 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 152:03 PM MDTEF0Adams0.150
May 152:51 PM MDTEF1Adams0.1100$15,000

May 27 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 271:10 PM MDTEF0Yuma0.525

May 28 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 282:38 PM MDTEF0Las Animas0.350
May 283:35 PM MDTEF0Kit Carson1.025
May 283:53 PM MDTEF0Baca0.450

June 4 18 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 44:38 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.125
June 45:12 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.5100
June 45:20 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.350
June 45:30 PM MDTEF1Elbert2.0400$2,000
June 45:38 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.050
June 45:53 PM MDTEF1Elbert0.2100
June 46:00 PM MDTEF0El Paso5.0200$2,000
June 46:05 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.6100
June 46:15 PM MDTEF0Elbert1.0100
June 46:17 PM MDTEF1Elbert2.0300
June 46:21 PM MDTEF0Elbert3.0300
June 46:26 PM MDTEF0Elbert1.6200
June 46:30 PM MDTEF3Boulder6.7440
June 46:32 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.3100
June 46:34 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.8200
June 46:36 PM MDTEF0Elbert1.3100
June 46:41 PM MDTEF0Elbert1.1100
June 47:10 PM MDTEF0Elbert1.1200

June 5 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 53:24 AM MDTEF2Kit Carson1.5300$30,000
June 51:13 PM MDTEF1Elbert0.650
June 54:54 PM MDTEF0Washington0.1100
June 56:20 PM MDTEF0Kit Carson4.5150
June 56:45 PM MDTEF0Kit Carson2.0150

June 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 117:45 PM MDTEF0Baca1.350

June 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 244:48 PM MDTEF1Denver2.850

July 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 93:32 PM MDTEF1Mesa0.150

July 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 212:05 PM MDTEF1Douglas0.3100

August 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 163:59 PM MDTEF0Weld0.050

August 17 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 173:12 PM MDTEF0Elbert0.050
August 174:34 PM MDTEF0Adams0.050
August 175:55 PM MDTEF1Lincoln0.0100$50,000
August 177:00 PM MDTEF1Lincoln0.0100$100,000

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.