Wild weather week prompts question: Is Colorado seeing more tornadoes this year?
After last week's wild weather, where near double-digit tornadoes might have touched down in Colorado, it makes you wonder: Has Mother Nature gone wild in the Centennial State?
Colorado saw multiple tornadoes and a raucous hailstorm at Red Rocks last week
The National Weather Service is still investigating the chaotic weather week but received reports of 15 tornadoes, stretching from the Sterling area in northeast Colorado to Highlands Ranch in the Denver area to Granada in the southeast corner of the state. Possibly nine different tornadoes touched down.
On June 22, the Denver metro southern suburb of Highlands Ranch saw an EF1 tornado cause damage to homes and uproot trees.
Prowers County in the far southeast part of the state saw possibly the first EF3 tornado in Colorado since 2015, according to preliminary reports. If that holds, it would be the strongest tornado in Colorado since the EF3 tornado June 4, 2015, in southern Larimer and northern Boulder counties, that damaged homes in Berthoud.
Concert-goers at Red Rocks on Wednesday night suffered injures as golf-ball sized hail pummeled them and the famous venue.
With that wacky weather in mind, who better to ask than the National Weather Service in Boulder how wild this spring and early summer's weather stacks up to other years.
Is Colorado seeing more tornadoes this year compared with an average year?
Might seem like it, but no.
The National Weather Service said preliminarily, Colorado has seen 35 tornadoes this year. The recent average is around 40 tornadoes per year.
About 75% of tornadoes in Colorado occur in May, June and July, with the bulk coming in June.
What Colorado counties are seeing the most tornadoes?
The National Weather Service conducts investigations on each tornado reported to determine if it actually is a tornado, including determining if the reports are weather-related events such as dust devils that are not tornadoes, and repeated reports of the same tornado.
It uses photos, videos, radar, trained spotters, law enforcement and other methods to determine the validity of reports.
Preliminarily, Washington County, which includes the county seat of Akron, has had the most reports, with 13.
Weld County, which typically ranks among counties in the country with the most tornadoes, has had seven reports, as has Prowers County in southeast Colorado, where Granada is located.
Larimer County has had no tornado warnings this year.
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Colorado is on torrid pace for tornado warnings
The National Weather Service has issued 106 tornado warnings as of June 26 in Colorado, the most for this date since 110 in 2015.
The weather service in Boulder, which roughly covers the northeast quarter of the state, has issued 52. Pueblo, which roughly covers the southeast quarter of the state, has issued 46.
The Grand Junction office, which covers roughly the western half of the state, has not issued a tornado warning.
Larimer County has not been under a tornado warning this year.
More: Takes two to tango Twin tornados swirl in 'rare' weather phenomenon during Colorado thunderstorm
Where do tornadoes rank as Colorado's deadliest natural disasters?
Tornado deaths rank well behind those caused by flash floods, avalanches, lightning and wildfires. There have been five tornado fatalities in Colorado since 1950.
Colorado's last tornado death occurred during the Windsor tornado on May 22, 2008. That tornado also injured 78 people. The EF3 tornado was the state's costliest tornado, causing an estimated $147 million in privately insured damages and $193.5 million overall.
The state's deadliest tornado occurred Aug. 10, 1924, when a tornado killed 11 people, including nine children, at a gathering on a farm northeast of Thurman in Washington County.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Is Colorado seeing more tornadoes this summer than usual?
