Tornadoes · United States · Colorado · 2022

Unrated tornado, Two Buttes to Walsh, Colorado, June 7, 2022

From Two Buttes to Walsh, this Unrated tornado ran 6.3 miles across Baca County on June 7, 2022, touching down at 8:18 PM MDT and reaching 20 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 7, 2022
Touchdown
8:18 PM MDT (02:18 UTC)
Lifted
8:25 PM MDT (02:25 UTC)
On the ground
7 minutes
Path length
6.3 miles (10.2 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Baca County
Touchdown point
37.610, -102.130
Lift-off point
37.524, -102.088
Record number
2206072018-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A more significant and widespread day of severe weather occurred across much of southeastern Colorado during the afternoon and evening of June 7th. Numerous reports of large damaging hail, funnel clouds, and tornadoes occurred across the region.

Law enforcement confirmed tornado touched the ground.

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

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS PUB issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:54 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:00 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:29 UTC and running to 02:57 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:29 UTC02:57 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchPUB
01:09 UTC02:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUB
01:54 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WarningPUB
02:37 UTC03:30 UTCTornado WarningPUB
02:57 UTC09:44 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchPUB
03:16 UTC04:18 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUB
06:42 UTC07:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUB
07:27 UTC08:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningPUB

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 00:59 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.

Dodge City, (KDDC), 00:00Z

2.3 hours before the tornado, 196 km from the path. June 8, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2022-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1208 joules per kilogram, CIN -84, lifted condensation level 1713 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 2022-06-08The 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 51 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
1208 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1822 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1713 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.7
0-3 km lapse rate
7.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Dodge City, (KDDC), 12:00Z

9.7 hours after it, 196 km from the path. June 8, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2022-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 178 joules per kilogram, CIN -304, lifted condensation level 631 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2022-06-08The 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 86 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 54 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
178 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-304 J/kg
Surface CAPE
16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
631 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
443 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1
0-3 km lapse rate
3.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 190 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:17 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
00:56 UTCTORNADO8 S LamarProwers, COOFF DUTY NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN.
00:58 UTCTORNADO8 S LamarProwers, COVIDEO OF TORNADO.
01:01 UTCHAIL 17 S LamarProwers, COREPORT FROM MPING: QUARTER (1.00 IN.).
02:00 UTCHAIL 1.512 Ne Two ButtesProwers, CO
02:15 UTCTORNADO3 N Two ButtesBaca, CODELAYED REPORT: TORNADO NORTH OF TWO BUTTES.
02:18 UTCHAIL 3.515 Ene Two ButtesBaca, CO
02:18 UTCTORNADO15 Ene Two ButtesBaca, COLAW ENFORCEMENT CONFIRMED TORNADO TOUCHED THE GROUND.
03:27 UTCTORNADO3 N Two ButtesBaca, COCORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 3 N TWO BUTTES. DELAYED REPORT: TORNADO NORTH OF TWO BUTTES.
03:27 UTCTORNADO8 Ene Two ButtesBaca, COCORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 3 N TWO BUTTES. DELAYED REPORT: TORNADO NORTH OF TWO BUTTES.

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 7, 2022

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 72:21 PM MDTEF1Niobrara, WY3.5225
June 75:03 PM MDTUnratedSedgwick, CO0.050
June 75:09 PM MDTUnratedSedgwick, CO0.050
June 75:30 PM MDTEF0Mora, NM0.210
June 75:44 PM MDTUnratedPhillips, CO0.050
June 76:09 PM MDTUnratedPhillips, CO0.050
June 76:36 PM MDTUnratedBent, CO3.425
June 76:56 PM MDTUnratedProwers, CO6.420
June 79:42 PM CDTEF0Nuckolls, NE9.425$1.0 million
June 710:15 PM CDTEF1Republic, KS3.175
June 79:27 PM MDTUnratedBaca, CO8.120
June 711:02 PM CDTEF1Marshall, KS2.875

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.