Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2022

Unrated tornado, Schramm to Wray Bowman Arpt, Colorado, June 3, 2022

From Schramm to Wray Bowman Arpt, this Unrated tornado ran 2.3 miles across Yuma County on June 3, 2022, touching down at 7:11 PM MDT and reaching 50 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
June 3, 2022
Touchdown
7:11 PM MDT (01:11 UTC)
Lifted
7:15 PM MDT (01:15 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
2.3 miles (3.8 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Yuma County
Touchdown point
39.992, -102.353
Lift-off point
39.995, -102.309
Record number
2206031911-01

What the Weather Service recorded

On June 3rd, thunderstorms developed along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains during the late afternoon hours and moved eastward across east-central Colorado going into the evening hours. These thunderstorms produced hail up to a quarter in size, wind gusts up to 79 mph, and a few short lived tornadoes.

Report of a tornado being spotted at roughly 6:58 pm MDT, which lasted around 8 minutes. Visible ground circulation beneath a funnel. Estimated precise locations with radar.

Chase reported a tornado southwest of Wray, Colorado. Several videos showing a funnel as well as a debris swirl on the ground. Chaser was driving east on County Road 33, looking south. Exact location determined by radar.

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

The warnings

15 minutes of warning. NWS GLD issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:56 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:15 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
23:13 UTC00:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
23:40 UTC01:49 UTCFlash Flood WarningGLD
23:53 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
23:58 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
00:14 UTC01:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
00:28 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
00:44 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
00:46 UTC01:02 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLD
00:56 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningGLD
01:17 UTC01:45 UTCTornado WarningGLD
01:29 UTC01:45 UTCTornado WarningGLD
01:54 UTC03:45 UTCFlood 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:55 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), 00:00Z

1.2 hours before the tornado, 78 km from the path. June 4, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 2022-06-04Temperature 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 -10, lifted condensation level 2614 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°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 2022-06-04The 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 41 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 20 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2614 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
8.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Denver, CO (KDNR), 12:00Z

10.8 hours after it, 78 km from the path. June 4, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2022-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 33 joules per kilogram, CIN -439, lifted condensation level 1567 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°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 2022-06-04The 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 -6 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 16 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
33 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-439 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1567 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
19 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 88 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:08 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
22:30 UTCHAIL 0.253 Ssw VernonYuma, COSPOTTER WAS TRAVELING SOUTH INTO STORM. THEY WERE ON THE VERY NORTHERN EDGE WHEN REPORT GIVEN.
00:22 UTCHAIL 0.255 S Lone StarWashington, COESTIMATED 35 TO 40 MPH WIND.
00:30 UTCHAIL 0.75WaunetaYuma, COCORRECTS PREVIOUS HAIL REPORT FROM WAUNETA. DELAYED REPORT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. ACCUMULATING PEA TO PENNY SIZED HAIL REPORTED. TIME ESTIMATED WITH RADAR.
00:36 UTCHAIL 0.255 Nnw YumaYuma, COHEAVY RAINFALL AS WELL.
00:37 UTCTSTM WND GST 606 Wsw VernonYuma, COREPORTED 60 MPH GUST ON PERSONAL STATION.
00:37 UTCHAIL 16 Wsw VernonYuma, COREPORTED HAIL GROWING FROM PEA TO QUARTER SIZED. STILL FALLING AS OF THE CALL.
00:46 UTCTSTM WND GST 512 Sse YumaYuma, CO
00:48 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD4 Nw EckleyYuma, CONORTHWEST OF ECKLEY.
00:53 UTCHAIL 0.252 Se YumaYuma, COHEAVY RAINFALL AS WELL.
00:58 UTCTORNADO5 S EckleyYuma, CODELAYED REPORT. WEAK TORNADO SPOTTED BEGINNING AT ROUGHLY 6:58PM. PERSISTED FOR APPROXIMATELY 8 MINUTES WITH A VISIBLE GROUND CIRCULATION AND FUNNEL.
01:10 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD6 Wsw WrayYuma, COTRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED FUNNEL JUST SOUTH WEST OF WRAY, ROUGHLY 2 MILES SOUTHWEST.
01:15 UTCTORNADO3 W WrayYuma, COCALLER REPORTED A ROPE FUNNEL THAT BRIEFLY TOUCHED THE GROUND A FEW MILES WEST OF THE TOWN OF WRAY. TORNADO WAS NOT ON THE GROUND AS OF THE CALL.
01:16 UTCHAIL 0.51 S EckleyYuma, COPUBLIC REPORT OF HAIL AROUND 1/4 TO 1/2 AN INCH WITH HEAVY RAINFALL ESTIMATED AROUND AN INCH.
01:17 UTCTSTM WND GST 584 N VernonYuma, COSITE WELP FARMS.
01:34 UTCTSTM WND GST 654 Ne IdaliaYuma, COMESONET STATION CO047 385N220 IDALIA.
01:34 UTCNON-TSTM WND GST 654 Ne IdaliaYuma, COMESONET STATION CO047 385N220 IDALIA.
01:40 UTCTORNADO2 E IdaliaYuma, CODELAYED REPORT OF A LANDSPOUT OBSERVED LOOKING SOUTH FROM THE INTERSECTION OF US-36 AND US-385. EXACT LOCATION OF LANDSPOUT UNKNOWN. MEDIA PERSONNEL ESTIMATED IT WAS ROUGHLY 2-3 MILES SOUTH OF THE REPORT LOCATION ALONG C
01:44 UTCTSTM WND GST 794 Ne IdaliaYuma, COSITE 385N21956RWS1SEC.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in ColoradoEvery tornado in Colorado since 1950Warnings in force in Colorado nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 3, 2022

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 35:00 PM MDTUnratedBent, CO5.320
June 35:23 PM MDTEF0Bent, CO4.25$5,000
June 35:43 PM MDTUnratedBent, CO5.520
June 36:58 PM MDTUnratedYuma, CO3.650
June 37:40 PM MDTUnratedYuma, CO0.750

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.