EF2 tornado, Kirk to Burlington Arpt, Colorado, August 8, 2023

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

August 8, 2023

Touchdown

7:25 PM MDT (01:25 UTC)

Lifted

7:47 PM MDT (01:47 UTC)

On the ground

22 minutes

Path length

5.3 miles (8.5 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

Counties

Kit Carson and Yuma counties

Touchdown point

39.614, -102.395

Lift-off point

39.541, -102.364

Record number

2308081925-01

7 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS GLD, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 120 mph.

• Overturned pivot about halfway along the pivot line.
• Nine broken power poles along the north side of the road.
• Last of the nine power poles to be snapped.
• Possible start point. Chaser reported a partially condensed cone that became rain wrapped.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

During the afternoon hours, a strong supercell developed over Logan and Washington Counties. As the storm moved southeast near the community of Hyde, Colorado, it produced a EF-3 tornado that continued into Yuma County. The tornado reached it's peak intensity while just southwest of the city of Yuma with significant damage to a residence and two metal buildings. The supercell continued to move south then southeast across Yuma County to produce a total of seven tornadoes, with one EF-2 tornado moving into far north Kit Carson County. The other tornadoes were ranked EF-U with another north of Abarr ranked an EF-0. The storm also produced thunderstorm wind gusts up to 100 mph with damage to trees and power poles. Large hail was another hazard produced with 1 to 5.25 inch hail reported across Yuma County. The 5.25 inch hailstone fell near Kirk, Colorado, and set a new hail size record for the state of Colorado. After crossing into Kit Carson County the thunderstorm turned east, producing more severe weather in Sherman County Kansas.

The tornado faded and reappeared more than once during its lifetime. The tornado ended before crossing CR S, remaining over an open field. No damage was observed.

Based on damage to power poles the tornado tracked south than east along CR 2. The tornado damaged half an irrigation pivot and snapped nine power poles along CR 2. Then it shifted south again before reaching the CR2/ CR Y intersection. Based on radar data the tornado continued south-southeast into Kit Carson County, ending northwest of the CR MM/CR 44 intersection.

Based on damage to power poles the tornado tracked south then east along CR 2. The tornado damaged half an irrigation pivot and snapped nine power poles along CR 2. Then it shifted south again before reaching the CR2/ CR Y intersection. Based on radar data the tornado continued south-southeast into Kit Carson County, ending northwest of the CR MM/CR 44 intersection. No damage was observed in Kit Carson County.

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

26 minutes of warning. NWS GLD issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:59 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:38 UTC and running to 04:00 UTC.

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 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 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 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.

Burlington (ITR), 38 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 63 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:26 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in ColoradoEvery tornado in Colorado since 1950Warnings in force in Colorado nowThe forecast where you are

13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.