(SOUTHERN COLORADO) — Another year has come and gone here in Southern Colorado, and true to our state’s nature, it has been wild and chaotic. There are plenty of factors that contribute to the interesting weather here in our viewing area, some of them are staples – and some change with years:
Climatology
Topography
Teleconnections
2023 featured a sharp transition from a strong La Niña to a strong El Niño. You may have heard these two phrases before, and that’s because they are incredibly important in the world of weather. Without diving into too much detail, these teleconnections are often responsible for drastic changes in the amount of storm systems we get and their strength.
Below is a look at the last 5 years of El Niño/La Niña data. The values on the right represent how strong the year was. La Niña is negative and blue – El Niño is positive and red. In general, El Niño years typically produce more storm systems.
With that being said, the FOX21 Storm Team wanted to take our viewers back to ten of the most impactful weather events we had in the region this year. It should be noted that this list, and the order, was made entirely at the FOX21 Storm Team’s discretion. These events include snow storms, large hail, record rainfall, and of course, tornadoes.
#10
May 11 and 12 – Heavy Rain/Snow
A high impact storm system brought in some significant weather for a 48 hour stretch in mid May of this year. Several inches of snow were being reported across the region with 8-9″ being reported near the Cripple Creek area. Woodland Park estimated a good 6″ as seen with the timelapse below.
The big winner may very well have been the northern slopes of Pikes Peak which saw about 15-18″ as reported on Friday morning that week. Divide and Florissant lost power for about 24 hours. Multiple rounds of snow helped keep these totals, and impacts, rather high.
On top of the snow event, lower elevations saw some record rainfall with persistent rain and thunderstorms from late Tuesday night, May 9, all the way through Thursday morning, May 11. Flash flooding was noted in Colorado Springs with water rescues taking place in Monument Creek.
The previous precipitation record for May 11 was 0.7″ in 1928. The record was smashed with this event as 3.18″ of precipitation was officially recorded that day.
The last time there was more than three inches of rainfall in a single day was eight years ago. In general, the area saw about 25% of it’s annual rainfall (for the year) in about 40 hours.
#9
June 12 – Hail/Flooding/Blizzard
Sometimes it all comes at once in Colorado thanks to our mountains!
Widespread thunderstorms continued from midnight on Sunday, June 11, through much of Monday morning, June 12, in the Colorado Spring metro. Multiple flash floods and water rescues were noted throughout the day.
A rather large and dangerous complex of thunderstorms would develop off the hills in the middle of the day. This type of system is known to meteorologists as a QLCS or a quasi-linear convective system. They typically produce heavy rainfall, severe hail, and sometimes tornadoes. Interestingly enough, the area did see a few tornado warnings that day. Here is a video of what a QLCS can look like:
This storm complex would help produce some significant hail in Cañon City too. Here are a few photos and videos from viewers sent in that day:
And if that wasn’t enough wild weather for you in one day, our highest elevations saw a pretty intense snow storm, with blizzard-like conditions on top of Pikes Peak. Be sure to check out the full story below for video of what that looked like.
Huge hail, snow & flooding with Southern Colorado storm | FOX21 News Colorado
#8
June – Record-Breaking Rain
The wrath of rain continued to… well… rain down on Southern Colorado during the month of June. Multiple rainfall records were broken this month with one of the highlights being the single highest amount of rainfall received in a single month. Nearly 10″ of rain was measured this June with the previous record of 8.13″ set back in May of 2015.
That wasn’t the only record broken though, here is a complete list of rainfall records broken, all thanks to Mother Nature:
All-time rainfall for a single month (wettest month)
All-time rainfall for a two-month period (wettest two months)
All-time rainfall for the month of June (9.59″ so far)
June 12 rainfall set a new record: 4.02″
June 21 rainfall set a new record: 1.62″
Here’s a deeper dive into more information on this record, and always welcome, moisture.
#7
Oct. 29, 2023 – First big snow of the year
A persistent early morning band of snowfall over eastern Fremont County into southern El Paso County dropped 10-14” from southwest Colorado Springs through Fountain. Lesser amounts of snowfall were reported on the north end, with a pretty sharp gradient of higher snow amounts. The culprit: banded snowfall.
This snow storm heavily favored a particularly strong snow band that anchored itself right over the Fountain area. Here is a satellite image of that snow band, highlighting just how impactful snow bands can be.
#6
May 30 – Lamar tornado (landspout)
Shane Wollert captured a landspout tornado in Prowers County near Lamar on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. According to a storm chaser report filed with the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, the tornado was 1/4 mile wide at one point.
The same report also stated that a “barn [was] blown down… another damaged. 3 trees blown down and minor surface damage to one home.” This report is from the 6000 block of County Road MM, located approximately 3/4 mile north of Highway 50.
#5
Tuesday, Aug. 8 – Record Breaking Hail Stone
Severe weather typically starts to slow down toward the end of the summer, and especially by August. Our weather usually begins to turn cooler and the atmosphere tends to become more stable with a few lingering severe weather episodes possible. However, if you live in Colorado, you should know better than to assume anything about our weather.
Photo courtesy of Dan Fitts, who found and measured the hailstone
A state record that stood for about four years was smashed in early August when Dan Fitts encountered a record-breaking hailstone in Eastern Colorado. The stone was measured at 5.25 inches in diameter and fell on Highway 36, which is north of Burlington along I-70. Roughly 20 miles to the east is the state line for Kansas.
Here is an image comparison showing where the severe weather reports were and what Doppler radar looked like at the time. The supercell that would ultimately help produce the record-breaking hailstone also helped produce multiple high impact tornadoes that evening.
Check out the National Weather Service write up from that event, as well as our FOX21 coverage, which dives more into the history of the record and the storm chaser who found the stone.
#4
July 7 – Plains Supercell/Large hail
Supercells formed on the south slopes of the Palmer Divide in central/southern Lincoln County in the early evening of July 7 and rolled to the southeast with some significant hail reports. Lincoln county saw hail reports of about 3.5 to 4″, Kiowa and Prowers counties had hail reports of about 2.5 to 3″. A few tornadoes were reported near DIA and in Adams County as well.
Here are some photos and videos of the event sent in by viewers:
#3
July 4 – Colorado Springs Hail Storm
Shortly before 2 p.m. on Independence Day, a storm rapidly intensified right over Colorado Springs. Golf ball sized hail was noted at the FOX21 news station on the east side, and other nearby areas. Robert Hahn, FOX21 Storm Team meteorologist, took these photos and videos as the severe weather was unfolding. He said that almost every car was damaged in the parking lot and a few windshields were busted.
#2
June 21 and 22 – Severe Weather
A stretch of severe weather on June 21 and June 22 brought huge hail, widespread flooding, and tornado sightings to the region. Several photos were sent in by viewers of an explosive supercell that could be seen from almost anywhere in the Colorado Springs area. This thunderstorm was well off to the east of the city, but it was so big that it could be seen hundreds of miles away.
Severe storms continued through about 4 a.m. for the plains, with several tornado-warned storms. There were reports of a cone tornado around 10:30 p.m. in rural southwest El Paso County, near the Pueblo County line, but they would ultimately prove to be “inconclusive” from the National Weather Service.
Hail stones between 1 and 2.5” fell in many spots. There were reports of around 2.5 feet of rapidly flowing water in Pueblo West. At one point, I-25 southbound was flooded around Fountain, along with reports of flooding/rushing waters in many other spots.
Here are some more images and videos of severe weather from that day:
Further to the north, the Denver metro had a rather eventful day with plenty of severe weather on June 22. Most notably, the Highlands Ranch community – a very densely populated area, saw a large tornado move through. The tornado was eventually labeled as an EF1 with winds measuring 105 mph. It would travel well over 8 miles with no injuries or deaths reported.
Here is a photo from that storm and the NWS track of the tornado.
It was reported that a tornado also touched down near Calhan/Yoder Thursday night, June 22, in Southern Colorado. Furthermore, a bridge collapsed northbound on Peyton Highway over Black Squirrel Creek on Thursday night. The flooded creek had taken out the supports under the bridge.
#1
June 23 – Prowers County EF3 tornado
On June 23 of this year, the DuVall family took a direct hit from one of the most powerful twisters to ever hit Southern Colorado. The devastating tornado tore through rural Prowers County around 5:30 p.m. – destroying the DuVall’s ranch as the family sheltered in their basement.
This tornado would ultimately be rated an EF3 – one of the most difficult ratings to achieve here in Southern Colorado. There have only been a total of three EF3 tornadoes in our viewing area since records began back in 1995.
It’s typically difficult to get EF3 tornado damage here in our state because most of our tornadoes happen over rural land and often don’t impact any structures. For tornadoes to be accurately rated, with the current system, they must produce some damage and that damage is used to measure their intensity.
The atmospheric environment that day was, to put it simply, stacked. Almost all significant ingredients needed for tornadoes and severe weather were in place. It was a setup for the perfect storm, and all that was needed was a little push to get things going.
Pictured above is one of the key ingredients that meteorologists look for when analyzing the volatility of the atmosphere: Storm Relative Helicity (SRH). Specifically, shown here is the lowest 1,000 meters of the atmosphere (as close to the ground as you can get). SRH is used to help identify potential areas of extreme rotation, a very important ingredient for tornadoes.
The map above painted a very clear bullseye over Southeastern Colorado that day. It was an ominous sign, eventually a warning, of the potential for strong tornadoes to develop specifically over that area. Models and graphing, as seen here, did a phenomenal job of pinpointing the Prowers County area where the tornado would eventually move through.
Unfortunately, the powerful tornado that developed would go on to completely destroy the rural farm in Prowers County belonging to the DuVall family. Here are some photos of the aftermath:
FOX21 Storm Team Meteorologist Ryan Matoush went to visit the DuValls about a month later to hear their story. The cleanup was well underway by the time he got there, but the damage and scars of the life-altering tornado remained.
Several methods of support were made available to the DuValls who thankfully all survived the tornado. Click here to read the full story and see extended video of the tornado (courtesy of Taylor Wright).
The devastating tornado would stay on the ground for over 40 minutes as it slowly meandered through the area. The tornado tracked on for over 10 miles, with winds peaking at 155 mph, earning it the top spot for most impactful weather event in Southern Colorado in 2023.
