Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2021

EF0 tornado, Gary to Brush, Colorado, May 22, 2021

From Gary to Brush, this EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Morgan County on May 22, 2021, touching down at 1:29 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 22, 2021
Touchdown
1:29 PM MDT (19:29 UTC)
Lifted
1:30 PM MDT (19:30 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
40.140, -103.700
Lift-off point
40.140, -103.700
Record number
2105221329-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms produced several weak tornadoes, along with hail from quarter to ping pong ball size. Nine short lived landspouts developed across Arapahoe, Lincoln, Logan, Morgan and Washington counties. All of them touched down in open country and did no damage.

A tornado touched down briefly in open country. No damage was observed.

A tornado touched down briefly in open country. No damage was observed.

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

The warnings

1 minute of warning. NWS BOU issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:28 UTC, 1 minute before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:22 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:22 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WatchBOU
19:11 UTC20:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOU
19:28 UTC19:45 UTCTornado WarningBOU
19:45 UTC20:00 UTCTornado WarningBOU
19:54 UTC20:17 UTCTornado WarningBOU
19:58 UTC20:23 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOU
21:53 UTC22:19 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:30 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

7.5 hours before the tornado, 50 km from the path. May 22, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2021-05-22Temperature 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 -77578, lifted condensation level 1528 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 2021-05-22The 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 59 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 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
-77578 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1528 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDNR), 00:00Z

4.5 hours after it, 50 km from the path. May 23, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2021-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 34 joules per kilogram, CIN -91, lifted condensation level 1134 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 2021-05-23The 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 279 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 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
34 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-91 J/kg
Surface CAPE
435 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1134 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
279 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
385 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Fort Morgan (FMM), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
17:35 UTC6551.370° 12 kt181021.7
17:55 UTC64.451.370° 13 kt191021.7
18:15 UTC6652.380° 15 kt1021.3
18:35 UTC6752.770° 13 kt181021.3
18:55 UTC66.753.270° 16 kt201021
19:15 UTC65.552.560° 19 kt221020
19:35 UTC62.251.650° 20 kt231019.6
19:55 UTC66.252.370° 19 kt251019.6TS
20:15 UTC60.45180° 21 kt251020.3
20:35 UTC57.45380° 19 kt231020-VCTSRA
20:55 UTC585590° 19 kt241020.3-RA
21:15 UTC61.254.780° 18 kt1019.6

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

The radar

The Denver radar (KFTG), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:26 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
19:30 UTCTORNADO5 Ene Adena SchoolMorgan, CO
19:47 UTCTORNADO6 Se BrushMorgan, COBRIEF GROUND CIRCULATION.
19:58 UTCHAIL 1.55 Wnw MidwayMorgan, COM149, CHASING.
20:03 UTCTORNADO1 Sw MidwayWashington, COBRIEF, WEAK TORNADO. HAS DISSIPATED.
20:12 UTCHAIL 14 Wnw AkronWashington, CO
21:23 UTCHAIL 19 Sse Prospect ValleyAdams, COREPORT FROM MPING: QUARTER (1.00 IN.).

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in ColoradoEvery tornado in Colorado since 1950Warnings in force in Colorado nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 22, 2021

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 221:46 PM MDTEF0Morgan, CO0.025
May 222:02 PM MDTEF0Washington, CO0.025
May 222:07 PM MDTEF0Arapahoe, CO0.025
May 222:44 PM MDTEF0Logan, CO0.025
May 223:55 PM MDTEF0Lincoln, CO0.025
May 223:59 PM MDTEF0Lincoln, CO0.025
May 224:04 PM MDTEF0Lincoln, CO0.025
May 224:28 PM MDTEF0Lincoln, CO0.025

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.