Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2019

EF0 tornado, Ft Morgan Arpt, Colorado, May 27, 2019

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Morgan County on May 27, 2019, touching down at 3:02 PM MDT and reaching 25 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 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
May 27, 2019
Touchdown
3:02 PM MDT (21:02 UTC)
Lifted
3:03 PM MDT (21:03 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Morgan County
Touchdown point
40.320, -103.770
Lift-off point
40.320, -103.770
Record number
1905271502-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms across the northeast plains of Colorado produced eight short-lived tornadoes. One tornado touched down and caused minor damage to 20,000 bushel capacity grain bins. Ten of 12 grain bins were damaged; some by downed pipes that fell on them. The rest of the tornadoes touched down in open country. In addition, large hail ranging from quarter to tennis ball size was reported. One of the storms produced a wind gust to 61 mph.

A tornado touched down briefly in an open field. No damage was reported.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:11 UTC and running to 00:32 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:11 UTC00:32 UTCTornado WatchBOU
19:28 UTC20:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOU
20:00 UTC20:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOU
20:41 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOU
21:03 UTC21:30 UTCTornado WarningBOU

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 19:58 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), 12:00Z

9.0 hours before the tornado, 68 km from the path. May 27, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2019-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -82907, lifted condensation level 1644 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2019-05-27The 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 18 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82907 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDEN), 00:00Z

3.0 hours after it, 68 km from the path. May 28, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2019-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -99, lifted condensation level 2729 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 2019-05-28The 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 79 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-99 J/kg
Surface CAPE
42 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2729 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
8.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:00 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
20:24 UTCHAIL 14 Ne WigginsMorgan, CO
20:35 UTCHAIL 1WigginsMorgan, COHAIL RANGING IN SIZE FROM PEAS TO QUARTERS MEASURED 3 INCHES DEEP IN THE TOWN OF WIGGINS.
20:37 UTCTSTM WND GST 591 Nw Fort MorganMorgan, CO
20:42 UTCHAIL 1.25WigginsMorgan, CO
21:03 UTCTORNADO4 Nne Fort MorganMorgan, COBRIEF TOUCHDOWN FOR LESS THAN ONE MINUTE IN AN OPEN FIELD. NO DAMAGE REPORTED.
21:03 UTCTORNADO4 Nne Fort Morgan AirpoMorgan, COBRIEF TOUCHDOWN FOR LESS THAN ONE MINUTE IN AN OPEN FIELD. NO DAMAGE REPORTED.
21:23 UTCTORNADO2 Ese WillardLogan, COBRIEF NEEDLE TORNADO IN OPEN SPACE. NO DAMAGE REPORTED.
21:34 UTCHAIL 14 N Logan CornersLogan, 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 May 27, 2019

62 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 271:10 AM CDTEF0Potter, TX1.650
May 271:13 AM CDTEF0Mitchell, KS0.025$25,000
May 2712:07 PM CDTEF0Freeborn, MN0.650
May 2712:23 PM CDTEF1Floyd, IA9.8105$625,000
May 271:10 PM CDTEF0Chickasaw, IA4.125$35,000
May 271:23 PM CDTEF0Fillmore, MN0.225$15,000
May 271:25 PM CDTEF1Howard, IA12.695$1.3 million
May 271:25 PM CDTEF3Van Buren, IA7.3100
May 271:29 PM CDTEF0Fillmore, MN0.215$5,000
May 271:36 PM CDTEF1Lee, IA0.520
May 271:40 PM CDTEF0Fillmore, MN0.225$20,000
May 271:47 PM CDTEF0Kendall, IL1.030
May 271:49 PM CDTEF0Howard, IA to MN6.230$202,000
May 272:03 PM CDTEF0Des Moines, IA0.120
May 272:04 PM CDTEF0Will, IL3.2300
May 273:15 PM CDTEF0Knox, IL0.110
May 273:22 PM MDTEF0Logan, CO0.025
May 274:27 PM CDTEF0Lee, IL0.730
May 274:27 PM CDTEF0Cook, IL0.850
May 274:30 PM CDTEF0Lake, IN1.1100
May 274:38 PM CDTEF0Woodford, IL0.110
May 273:40 PM MDTEF0Elmore, ID0.510
May 274:35 PM MDTEF0Logan, CO0.025
May 274:44 PM MDTEF0Sedgwick, CO0.050
May 274:53 PM MDTEF0Adams, CO0.025
May 275:04 PM MDTEF0Weld, CO0.025
May 275:25 PM MDTUnratedYuma, CO0.010
May 277:34 PM EDTEF1Miami, IN0.650
May 277:51 PM EDTEF3Fulton, IN13.7800
May 275:51 PM MDTEF0Phillips, CO0.025
May 278:05 PM EDTEF2Madison, IN5.91001$150,000
May 278:10 PM EDTEF2Grant, IN4.1150
May 278:26 PM EDTEF1Wabash, IN1.950
May 278:29 PM EDTEF1Henry, IN0.250$20,000
May 276:31 PM MDTEF0Phillips, CO0.025
May 278:39 PM EDTEF1Henry, IN2.5200$40,000
May 276:43 PM MDTEF0Chase, NE0.225
May 278:59 PM EDTEF3Wells, IN12.81,2002
May 277:23 PM MDTEF1Chase, NE5.5250$200,000
May 277:37 PM MDTEF0Chase, NE0.150$15,000
May 279:48 PM EDTEF1Darke, OH1.4100$100,000
May 2710:02 PM EDTEF3Mercer, OH10.825018$15 million
May 2710:04 PM EDTEF1Darke, OH0.5200$500,000
May 278:05 PM MDTEF0Chase, NE0.225$15,000
May 2710:25 PM EDTEF3Darke, OH10.51,3201$10 million
May 2710:33 PM EDTEF1Auglaize, OH1.3150$500,000
May 2710:41 PM EDTEF4Dayton tornado, OH18.21,050166$500 million
May 2710:47 PM EDTEF0Auglaize, OH4.0150$50,000
May 2710:47 PM EDTEF0Miami, OH5.6200$50,000
May 2711:01 PM EDTEF0Auglaize, OH0.230$10,000
May 2711:08 PM EDTEF0Miami, OH1.150$10,000
May 2711:12 PM EDTEF3Montgomery, OH9.91,230$51 million
May 2711:19 PM EDTEF0Miami, OH3.050$70,000
May 2711:28 PM EDTEF0Hardin, OH2.050$25,000
May 2711:34 PM EDTEF2Montgomery, OH7.6440$1.0 million
May 2710:45 PM CDTEF0Nuckolls, NE0.075$75,000
May 2711:48 PM EDTEF1Greene, OH5.8250$53,000
May 2712:23 AM EDTEF0Greene, OH4.2250$200,000
May 2712:57 AM EDTEF1Pickaway, OH3.8150$1.0 million
May 271:09 AM EDTEF1Pickaway, OH1.675$1.5 million

All 63 of them

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.