Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2015

EF0 tornado, Ramah, Colorado, June 4, 2015

This EF0 tornado ran 5.0 miles across El Paso County on June 4, 2015, touching down at 6:00 PM MDT and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $2,000 of property damage.

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 mphthis tornado

    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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 4, 2015
Touchdown
6:00 PM MDT (00:00 UTC)
Lifted
6:18 PM MDT (00:18 UTC)
On the ground
18 minutes
Path length
5.0 miles (8.1 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$2,000
County
El Paso County
Touchdown point
39.121, -104.115
Lift-off point
39.066, -104.054
Record number
1506041800-01

The damage survey

12 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BOU and NWS PUB and NWS RAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 102 mph.

  • some minor dog this location. we have no idea if building was dogs by tor or not
  • small building damaged by the tornado.
  • some minor damage this location. we have no idea if building was damaged by tor or not
  • sign bent south-southeastward (160 degrees on the compass).

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

A severe storm produced severe hail, damaging winds, and three tornados in northeast El Paso County, and other severe storms brought hail up to the size of tennis balls in western El Paso County.

A tornado moved from Elbert County into El Paso County and damaged some trees and road signs. The damage to the trees was consistent with EF1 winds.

A tornado moved east to west from Elbert County into El Paso County and caused no damage across a field in El Paso County.

A large tornado moved across open country. It missed several ranches and only damaged a outbuilding along Alford Road.

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

The warnings

20 minutes of warning. NWS PUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:40 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
23:16 UTC23:45 UTCTornado WarningPUB
23:40 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningPUB
00:09 UTC00:30 UTCTornado WarningPUB
01:33 UTC01:53 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUB
05:23 UTC06:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUB
06:10 UTC06:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUB

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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:06 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 (KDEN), 00:00Z

0.0 hours before the tornado, 113 km from the path. June 5, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2015-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 945 joules per kilogram, CIN -49, lifted condensation level 2145 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2015-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -49 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 21 knots.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
945 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2676 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2145 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDEN), 12:00Z

12.0 hours after it, 113 km from the path. June 5, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2015-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 356 joules per kilogram, CIN -70, lifted condensation level 888 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
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.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2015-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 22 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
356 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-70 J/kg
Surface CAPE
252 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Limon Municipal (LIC), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
22:03 UTC715890° 16 kt1016.3VCTS
22:20 UTC705990° 15 kt1016.6TS
22:50 UTC69.857.290° 12 kt1016.6VCTS
22:55 UTC695890° 14 kt1016.6
23:20 UTC686080° 15 kt261016.9TS
23:55 UTC685980° 15 kt1016.9TS
00:55 UTC666080° 14 kt1017.3TS
01:16 UTC6660110° 14 kt1017.3VCTS
01:27 UTC6660140° 12 kt1017.3
01:55 UTC6560120° 13 kt1016.9

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

The radar

The Pueblo radar (KPUX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:03 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
21:22 UTCHAIL 1.59 N MathesonElbert, CO
21:42 UTCHAIL 120 Nw LimonElbert, CO
21:46 UTCHAIL 1.57 N MathesonElbert, CO
21:52 UTCHAIL 1.51 S AgateElbert, CO
23:15 UTCTORNADO1 N SimlaElbert, COMULTIPLE REPORTS OF A TORNADO ON THE GROUND.
23:18 UTCTORNADO1 N SimlaElbert, COTHE SAME TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN FOR A SECOND TIME.
23:31 UTCTORNADO2 Wnw SimlaElbert, COLARGE TORNADO ON THE GROUND.
23:40 UTCHAIL 2.751 W SimlaElbert, CO
23:41 UTCTORNADO2 E RamahEl Paso, COLIFTED AT APPROXIMATELY 545 PM.
23:45 UTCTORNADO1 Wsw SimlaElbert, COLARGE TORNADO REMAINED ON THE GROUND FROM 531-545 PM MDT.
23:45 UTCHAIL 15 Wsw CalhanEl Paso, CO
23:59 UTCHAIL 2.52 W SimlaElbert, CO
00:00 UTCHAIL 2.51 W SimlaElbert, COBROKEN WINDOWS REPORTED.
00:04 UTCTORNADO5 Se RamahEl Paso, COSTILL ON GROUND
00:05 UTCHAIL 2.75SimlaElbert, CO
00:34 UTCTORNADO8 Nw KutchElbert, COLARGE TORNADO ON THE GROUND SINCE 623 PM MDT
01:40 UTCHAIL 15 Wsw CalhanEl Paso, CO
01:45 UTCHAIL 1.55 Wsw CalhanEl Paso, CO

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in ColoradoEvery tornado in Colorado since 1950Warnings in force in Colorado nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 4, 2015

19 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 42:00 AM EDTEF0Tyrrell, NC0.1100$5,000
June 44:38 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.125
June 45:12 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.5100
June 45:20 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.350
June 45:30 PM MDTEF1Elbert, CO2.0400$2,000
June 45:38 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.050
June 45:53 PM MDTEF1Elbert, CO0.2100
June 46:05 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.6100
June 46:15 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO1.0100
June 46:17 PM MDTEF1Elbert, CO2.0300
June 46:21 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO3.0300
June 46:26 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO1.6200
June 46:30 PM MDTEF3Boulder, CO6.7440
June 46:32 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.3100
June 46:34 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.8200
June 46:36 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO1.3100
June 46:41 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO1.1100
June 47:10 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO1.1200
June 49:53 PM CDTEF0Sheridan, KS0.625

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.