Colorado Prepares for Moderate Severe Weather Season
By Trevor Phipps
For the second year in a row, the rare occasion of a tornado striking the high-elevation lands of Teller County has occurred yet again. Last year, Teller County Commissioner Dan Williams suffered the brunt of the tornado that hit his property located in between Divide and Cripple Creek that sits over 10,000 feet in elevation.
This year, another tornado blasted through an area located at over 9,000 feet about two miles north-northeast of Divide on June 17. The storm caused extensive tree damage to over 15 acres of land, but luckily no structures were damaged.
In the storm’s aftermath, Teller county commissioners praised the cooperative efforts of first responders and local residents at the last county commissioner meeting in June. Thanks to efforts from local landscaping and tree service companies, one road was only closed for a short period of time and most residents quickly regained access to their driveways.
On June 17, Teller County residents were warned of severe thunderstorms in the late morning/early afternoon. The alerts started with a thunderstorm watch, then a thunderstorm warning. Then just after noon, cell phones blasted with a tornado warning, telling everyone to move to an area in a building with no doors or windows.
Some residents took pictures of funnel clouds swirling overhead before hearing if anything had touched ground. However, most of the county only got pummeled with hail ranging from pea to quarter size (or ¼ to one-inch diameter).
But then the next day, the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that a tornado hit ground in Teller County at 12:41 p.m. The tornado was rated as an EF-1 due to the maximum 106 MPH winds.
The tornado first struck an area near County Road 5 just north of Divide before heading east and crossing County Road 25 (Tranquil Acres Road). The tornado traveled 0.44 miles and was 150 yards wide.
Since 1995, Teller County has recorded seven tornadoes, including the most recent one. Four of them were rated EF-0 and three were rated an EF-1. Since 1986, the county has only had 24 tornado warnings issued.
But even though the storm hit with tornado-force, Teller County commissioners were pleasantly surprised that there was not any serious damage to homes in the area. During the last Board of Commissioners meeting held in Cripple Creek, County Commissioner Bob Campbell praised the efforts of several local companies that were out helping their neighbors free of charge.
“They were just doing it out of good will and being good neighbors because most of them live and work up here,” Campbell said. “Everybody was helping everybody and thank God there were no injuries that we know of at least at this point. There were only minor house damages and some outbuildings with thousands and thousands of trees down.”
The commissioners mentioned the fact that some houses had large two or three-foot-wide trees fall just short of hitting houses. And even though much progress has been made, Commissioner Williams agreed that it would take weeks to mitigate all of the damage caused.
More Severe Storms Could Strike the High Country
According to the Colorado Climate Center, severe storms start to ramp up in mid-May with the peak storm season hitting in early June. Sections of the eastern part of the state (including Teller County) are more susceptible to severe thunderstorms striking due to geographic characteristics and weather patterns, than parts of central Colorado and the Western Slope.
Even though the peak of the stormy season may have passed, it is still possible to see storms occurring from now until the fall season. However, the frequency of severe storms should decrease between now and when the leaves start to change.
Experts say that for 2025, a typical summer is expected with a little more heat than usual. The chances of severe storms occurring is moderate and the state could see slightly more hail storms and tornadoes than other years. However, the brunt of the hail storms and tornadoes will most like strike the Eastern Plains portion of the state.
And even though the chances of another tornado striking the Teller high country is very rare, the county has seen at least one tornado every year for at least the past three years. And according to Denver’s 9NEWS Weather Impact Team meteorologist Chris Bianchi, the high-altitude location where the recent storm hit “represents a unique tornado-prone area in the mountains.”
With an average elevation of 9,200 feet, the Divide area is situated with South Park to the north and west, and Pikes Peak to the south and east. According to Bianchi, the rotation of the storms and the upslope flow that provides moisture creates favorable conditions for tornado formation. “This in the mountains can be a bit of a mini tornado alley, so to speak,” Bianchi said, according to 9news.com.
