Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2019

Unrated tornado, Abarr to Kirk, Colorado, August 13, 2019

From Abarr to Kirk, this Unrated tornado ran 2.2 miles across Yuma County on August 13, 2019, touching down at 1:55 PM MDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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. Unratedthis tornado

    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
Unrated
Date
August 13, 2019
Touchdown
1:55 PM MDT (19:55 UTC)
Lifted
2:05 PM MDT (20:05 UTC)
On the ground
10 minutes
Path length
2.2 miles (3.5 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Yuma County
Touchdown point
39.785, -102.656
Lift-off point
39.754, -102.648
Record number
1908131355-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorms in northeast Colorado resulted in giant hailstones, a few tornadoes, and localized flash flooding. This event will be remembered for producing a new State of Colorado record hailstone, measured at 4.83 inches in diameter.

Two tornadoes were observed simultaneously.

Two tornadoes were observed simultaneously.

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

The warnings

27 minutes of warning. NWS GLD issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:28 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:49 UTC and running to 01:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
13:10 UTC15:39 UTCDense Fog AdvisoryGLD
17:49 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WatchGLD
19:17 UTC20:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
19:28 UTC20:00 UTCTornado WarningGLD
19:52 UTC20:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
19:57 UTC20:45 UTCTornado WarningGLD
20:00 UTC02:25 UTCFlash Flood WatchGLD
20:27 UTC21:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
20:42 UTC21:30 UTCTornado WarningGLD

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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:29 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 (KDNR), 12:00Z

7.9 hours before the tornado, 51 km from the path. August 13, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2019-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3 joules per kilogram, CIN -428, lifted condensation level 2421 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 2019-08-13The 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 21 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 21 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-428 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2421 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDNR), 00:00Z

4.1 hours after it, 51 km from the path. August 14, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2019-08-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 369 joules per kilogram, CIN -65, lifted condensation level 2997 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 2019-08-14The 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 30 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 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
369 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Surface CAPE
816 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2997 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8
0-3 km lapse rate
9.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Yuma (2V6), 38 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:14 UTC82.439.2120° 10 kt151020.7
18:34 UTC82.439.2120° 15 kt191019.6
18:49 UTC78.841100° 18 kt231019
19:14 UTC75.24180° 24 kt281018.6-DZ
19:34 UTC73.444.6100° 16 kt191019.6-RA
19:49 UTC7746.4100° 17 kt241019.6VCTS
20:14 UTC78.844.6130° 12 kt1020
20:34 UTC78.844.6130° 9 kt171019.6VCTS
20:54 UTC80.642.8120° 9 kt1020
21:14 UTC78.839.2130° 12 kt241020.3
21:29 UTC80.628.4120° 9 kt151019.6
21:54 UTC69.837.470° 21 kt341021

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

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:55 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
19:23 UTCHAIL 16 Nnw HeartstrongYuma, COSPOTTER REPORTED DIME TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL.
19:24 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD5 Nnw HeartstrongYuma, COSPOTTER SAW FUNNEL CLOUD. 13 S/SE YUMA.
19:31 UTCHAIL 13 Se YumaYuma, CO
19:58 UTCTORNADO8 Se AbarrYuma, COTORNADO SPOTTED BY CO-OP OBSERVER. LOCATION AND TIME DETERMINED BY RADAR.
20:09 UTCTORNADO7 N JoesYuma, CO
20:09 UTCTORNADO8 Ne JoesYuma, CO
20:10 UTCTORNADO7 N JoesYuma, COFIRE PERSONNEL HAS SPOTTER TORNADO ON THE GROUND NORTH OF JOES NEAR CTY ROADS 10/LINCOLN.
20:57 UTCTORNADO11 Nnw BethuneKit Carson, COSTORM CHASER REPORTED VIA TWITTER POSSIBLE TORNADO 15 MILES NW OF BURLINGTON. REPORT INCLUDED A VIDEO SHOWING POSSIBLE TORNADO.
21:00 UTCHAIL 1StrattonKit Carson, CO
21:05 UTCHAIL 1StrattonKit Carson, COPUBLIC REPORTED 1 INCH HAIL IN STRATTON, CO.
21:08 UTCHAIL 11 Wsw StrattonKit Carson, CO
21:12 UTCHAIL 210 N BethuneKit Carson, CO
21:25 UTCTORNADO1 N BethuneKit Carson, COPOSSIBLE RAIN-WRAPPED TORNADO 1 MILE N OF BETHUNE AT 325 MT.
21:35 UTCHAIL 5BethuneKit Carson, CODELAYED REPORT... BROADCAST MEDIA RELAYED A PICTURE ON TWITTER FROM BETHUNE EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON APPEARING TO DEPICT A HAIL STONE AT OR ABOVE 5 INCHES IN DIAMETER. NEEDS TO BE VERIFIED BUT, IF VERIFIED, THIS WOULD BE A
21:52 UTCFLASH FLOOD2 Sw BurlingtonKit Carson, COPUBLIC REPORTED VIA TWITTER STREET FLOODING 1 MILE S AND 2 MILES W OF BURLINGTON. REPORT INCLUDED A VIDEO SHOWING STREET FLOODING.
22:00 UTCHAIL 0.7BurlingtonKit Carson, CO

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in ColoradoEvery tornado in Colorado since 1950Warnings in force in Colorado nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 13, 2019

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 132:25 PM CDTEF0Otter Tail, MN0.3100
August 132:00 PM MDTUnratedYuma, CO3.5100
August 132:52 PM MDTUnratedKit Carson, CO4.2100
August 134:24 PM CDTEF0Steele, MN5.925$1,000
August 135:03 PM CDTEF0Dakota, MN0.325

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.