EF2 tornado, Hillrose to Brush Muni Arpt, Colorado, July 29, 2018

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

July 29, 2018

Touchdown

4:31 PM MDT (22:31 UTC)

Lifted

4:47 PM MDT (22:47 UTC)

On the ground

16 minutes

Path length

8.6 miles (13.8 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Morgan County

Touchdown point

40.360, -103.540

Lift-off point

40.240, -103.520

Record number

1807291631-01

3 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BOU, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 124 mph.

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

Severe thunderstorms brought damaging tornadoes, straight-line winds, large hail and heavy rain across northeast Colorado. A total of 4 tornadoes touched down and impacted the communities of Brush, Hillrose, and Snyder. An EF-2 tornado struck the east side of Brush and caused significant damage to the Brush Airport and turned semi-trucks on their side on U.S. 34. Highway 34, was closed near the Morgan-Washington county line due to debris and downed power lines. In Hillrose and Snyder moderate damage to structures included: roofs, windows, siding, broken trees, power lines and piles down. In Snyder, the town hall was also damaged and some roadways were inundated with over 3 feet of standing water. In Snyder, a tornado touched down in the Pinneno feedlot, which injured and killed livestock. Heavy agricultural damage to crops was reported and pivots were destroyed. ||In Morgan County, over 200 poles down were knocked down and caused extensive power outages across the area. Those affected by the tornados were expected to be without power for up to 2 days. Approximately 20 people suffered mainly minor injuries. The hail ranged in size from quarter to baseball size, and produced peak wind gusts to around 75 mph. Multiple road closures were reported around Morgan County due to flooded roadways and downed power lines. As the storm continued east, near-zero visibility rain fell in Akron, which was accompanied by strong winds. In the southern portion of Washington County, the storm produced hail up to baseball size south of Anton. There was also widely spread damage to crops, vehicles, roofs, siding, and windows. In Greeley, reports of damage included broken windshields and destroyed gardens.

A tornado touched down and uprooted many trees. Outbuildings were extensively damaged or destroyed.

A tornado touched down and destroyed Brush Municipal Airport. Small planes were flipped over and hangers were leveled. Major tree and roof damage was also observed.

A tornado touched down and snapped power poles and ripped street signs from the ground. This tornado crossed into Washington County before it dissipated.

A tornado touched down and uprooted many trees, with debris striking vehicles.

A tornado touched down and destroyed Brush Municipal Airport. Small planes were flipped over and hangers were leveled. Major tree and roof damage was also observed.

A tornado touched down near the intersection of U.S. 34 and State Highway 71. The tornado snapped power poles and ripped street signs from the ground.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS BOU issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:10 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:07 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:54 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 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.

Fort Morgan (FMM), 24 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Denver radar (KFTG), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:31 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in ColoradoEvery tornado in Colorado since 1950Warnings in force in Colorado nowThe forecast where you are

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.