Two EF2 tornadoes in Baca County on Memorial Day

Overview

A damage survey was conducted by the National Weather Service Pueblo office concerning the tornadoes in Baca County on Memorial Day, May 31^st. The MIC and WCM travelled to the damage areas with the Baca County Emergency Manager. The preliminary report is that there were three tornadoes in southern Baca County, although there was one claim, so far, that two or three additional small, short-lived tornadoes occurred. Regarding the three tornadoes, two were rated EF2 and one EF0.

Two tornadoes occurred southwest of Pritchett. Eyewitness reports said that one was quite large, and one was smaller and to south of the large tornado.

Path of the First EF2 Tornado

Here is a link to video shot of the large tornado by Roger Hill...

The large tornado developed north of US Highway 160 approximately 7 miles west-southwest of Pritchett. Storm chasers said this tornado lasted for 22 minutes, between approximately 2:50 p.m. and 3:12 p.m. The tornado moved toward the southeast and crossed US Highway 160, snapping off and taking down 14 power poles in the vicinity of the intersection of US Highway 160 and County Road 8. This was consistent with low end EF2 damage. The power poles were approximately 200 feet apart. The tornado likely was not that wide (2800 feet), as the tornado probably did not move absolutely perpendicular to US Highway 160. Also, once the tornado snapped some power poles off, the domino effort took over, and pulled down poles on either side. After crossing US Highway 160 a tree had a large limb broken off on the east side of County Road 8. Thereafter the tornado passed over an open field and no fence damage was seen. No damage could be found with the smaller tornado to the south, as it traveled over open fields. Therefore, it rating is EF0.

The supercell thunderstorm continued to move toward the southeast. Storm chasers, emergency management, and law enforcement reported strong rotation at cloud base and occasional funnel clouds.

Then at approximately 6:09 p.m., another large tornado occurred south of Campo. Scores of storm chasers, emergency management, and law enforcement witnessed this very photogenic tornado for approximately 16 minutes. Video of this tornado was shown on National news outlets throughout the day. Close-up video was seen as the tornado crossed US Highway 287/385 approximately 8 miles south-southeast of Campo.

Path of the Second EF2 Tornado

Photos & Video
Radar
Environment

Photos & Video:

Pictures of the Tornado and the Damage


Courtesy of Roger Hill	Windmill Destroyed by Tornado Courtesy Tom Magnuson	Outbuilding Destroyed by Tornado Courtesy of Tom Magnuson

Best indications are that the tornado began a couple miles southwest of Campo and moved southeast. The tornado snapped off and took down 8 power poles west of US Highway 287/385 approximately 8 miles south southeast of Campo, south of County Road F. This is consistent with EF2 damage. The poles were approximately 300 feet apart. The tornado likely was not 800 yards wide, as the domino effect likely occurred in this case as well. The tornado continued on to the southeast, clipping a property north of County Road C, knocking down some large tree limbs. Then, it crossed County Road C, 8/10^th of a mile east of US Highway 287/385. It snapped off and took down 8 power poles crossing County Road C (Consistent with low end EF2 damage), and moved onto a ranch. The tornado took down a windmill, bending it to the ground toward the east. The windmill was still anchored in the concrete base.

The tornado then moved toward a ranch house with outbuildings. A storage building was moved off its foundation and flipped on its roof approximately 20 feet to the north-northwest. The building was resting on its foundation, and not nailed or bolted down. This is consistent with EF1 damage.

The tornado continued to move southeast, damaging another windmill approximately 1 mile southeast of the ranch house. Thereafter, the tornado traveled southeast over open fields an additional 2 miles to the Oklahoma state line.

Radar:

Base Reflectivity and Base Velocity Scans of the Tornado

Base Reflectivity and Base Velocity Volume Scans from KPUX of the Tornadic Event

Environment

Looking at the synoptic set-up, the first thing that jumped out was that the environment was not conducive to supercell thunderstorms. The shear profile, in particular was not convincing. The main forcing mechanism was an outflow boundary from an MCS the previous day, in Kansas. The post storm wind shear ahead of the storm, in KDDC, had a CAPE value of 1390 J/kg*K, at 6:00 PM MDT. Assuming that the air over Baca County was slightly less unstable, and providing the low-level wind shear, provided by the outflow boundary from the previous day's MCS in Kansas, southeastern Colorado's atmospheric environment was conducive to supercell thunderstorms, after colliding with other boundaries.


MCS located over Kansas	KDDC 6:00PM MDT Sounding	700-hPa Analysis Illustrates a Moist Environment and Shortwave Troughs.

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