A Pacific storm and atmospheric river will impact the Pacific Northwest states and northern Rockies this weekend, bringing locally heavy low elevations rain and heavy high elevation snow in the mountains. By Sunday over the Interior Northwest, rain combined with snowmelt will increase the risk of flood hazards. Flood Watches are in effect. Read More >
Overview
A tornado touched down at approximately 3:30 pm Wednesday in Teller County, about 7 miles northwest of Woodland Park. It hit a sparsely populated area west of highway 67, and fortunately no one was injured. Approximately 200 acres of forest was flattened by the tornado, which was 2-300 yards wide and had winds estimated between 70 and 100 miles per hour. Numerous large trees were toppled by the twister, as seen in the below photo. The tornado formed as part of a supercell thunderstorm, which strengthened rapidly over northern Teller County and then moved southward through Manitou, which was hit by large amounts of hail, and western Colorado Springs, where funnel clouds were reported.
A tornado began near the intersection of Forest Road 357 and County Road 78. Extensive tree damage occurred in about a 200 acre area. Trees were uprooted, and the tornado was rated an EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, which ranges from EFO to EF5. Wind speeds may have been between 80 and 100 mph.
There were no structures affected and no injuries were reported. Access roads were blocked for several hours while crews removed the trees. This is not the first tornado to cause damage in Teller County in the recent past. In July 1996, a tornado did similar damage in a forest area north of Divide on and around Red Cedar Mountain Road. That tornado was rated F1 on the Fujita Scale
Photos & Video:
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Environment
The SPC issued a slight risk for severe thunderstorms as of 6:00 AM MDT of June 27th, 2007. The synopsis covered that there was post-frontal upslope flow, with deep lapse rates in the upper-atmosphere, surface dew point temperatures in the 50s, and mixed layer CAPE values around 1500-2500 J/kg*K. Which essentially states that there would be topographically forced air, breaking the cap, which would initiate thunderstorms. What wasn't accounted for in the SPC discussion was any threat of tornadoes. The 6:00 PM MDT sounding from KDNR calculated a helicity value of 108, which is high enough for rotating thunderstorms.
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SPC Upper-Air Maps on June 27th, 2007 at 6:00AM MDT
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SPC Upper-Air Maps on June 27th, 2007 at 6:00AM MDT
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Soundings on June 27th, 2007 at 6:00 AM MDT
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Soundings on June 27th, 2007 at 6:00 PM MDT
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| KDDC Sounding | KDNR Sounding |
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