Yuma tornado wind speed hit 150 miles per hour this week along six-mile path of destruction

One tornado that wreaked havoc in northeastern Colorado’s Yuma County this week unleashed wind at speeds as fast as 150 miles per hour along a six-mile path of destruction, according to preliminary results of a National Weather Service damage survey.

This tornado hit Tuesday and damaged irrigation pivots, trees, power poles, and two houses, the NWS survey team found. It also wrecked grain bins and a slanted metal building that held agricultural equipment — but spared Yuma, population 3,433, located 143 miles northeast of Denver.

And, based on the damage, NWS meteorologists rated the tornado “EF-3” or “strong.”

“We don’t receive many tornadoes of that intensity out here,” NWS meteorologist Jesse Lundquist said from his base in Goodland, Kansas.

“Yuma was very lucky that this tornado made a right turn to a more southerly direction,” Lundquist said.

Its path began at the town of Hyde, about 4.7 miles west of Yuma, and it moved to a point a mile southwest of Yuma, churning up debris as it carved into soil. The tornado remained south of Yuma. It ripped the roof off a house were people were huddled inside.

The NWS surveyors, based in Goodland, Kansas, were analyzing data to determine exactly when the tornado hit. Two other tornadoes touched down south of Yuma later on Tuesday, Lundquist said.

No deaths or injuries occurred as a result of the storms.

In Yuma, municipal officials said they saw two tornadoes. NWS meteorologists on Thursday morning were analyzing information from their survey of damage from the storm, which also dropped large hail including a 5-inch-diameter hailstone comparable to canned hams — expected to set a new record.

Source: Read Full Article