One of Colorado's most destructive tornadoes ripped through Windsor 16 years ago

Miles Blumhardt, Fort Collins Coloradoan
·3 min read

Just before noon on May 22, 2008, one of Colorado's most damaging tornadoes struck when an EF-3 tornado ripped through the east side of Windsor.

Here is a look-back at that fateful day 16 years ago. You can read more about the tornado in our 15th anniversary story recounting the devastation.

More: Windsor tornado: On 15th anniversary, we look back on Colorado's most destructive twister

The 2008 Windsor tornado wasn't your average Colorado tornado

The event was rare for a number of reasons:

  • EF-3 and larger tornadoes are rare in Colorado, accounting for 1% of all tornadoes. Maximum wind speed with the Windsor tornado was 165 mph.

  • The vast majority of tornadoes in Colorado occur between 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. when more of the conditions necessary for tornadoes are present. The Windsor tornado was first reported at 11:26 a.m.

  • The tornado path was from southeast to northwest. Generally tornadoes in Colorado move west to east or in some similar direction.

  • The 1-mile tornado was on the ground an unusually long time, leaving a continuous path of destruction of 24 miles in Weld County.

Here is the staggering damage left behind from the 2008 Windsor tornado

  • 1 fatality

  • 78 people injured

  • 850 homes damaged, 300 of which were significantly damaged or destroyed

  • $147 million in damages (in 2008 dollars), accounting for more than half of all tornado damage in the state since 1950.

  • $1 million in damage to electric transmission lines, leaving approximately 60,000 people without electricity.

  • 15 railroad cars overturned and a lumber car destroyed on the Great Western Railway of Colorado.

  • The vast majority of 400 cattle at Windsor's main feedlot were killed in the tornado or had to be put down after the feedlot was flattened and a dairy barn was destroyed.

  • Hail up to baseball size did severe damage in addition to the tornado.

More: Deadliest natural disasters What to know about Colorado's deadliest natural disasters, including key safety tips

Here is a look at tornado season in Colorado

There have been multiple tornado reports in Colorado in the last couple of weeks. Here is what to know about tornadoes in Colorado:

  • The state averages 46 tornadoes since 1992.

  • Weld County is among the nation's most tornado-prone counties with 290 between 1955 and 2022, compared with 33 in Larimer County, according to Russ Schumacher, professor in CSU's Department of Atmospheric Science and Colorado's state climatologist.

  • 75% of Colorado tornadoes occur May through July, with early June peak.

  • Colorado has 35 documented tornado deaths, but only five since 1950. The Windsor death was the last tornado fatality.

Notable Larimer County tornadoes

  • June, 29, 1928: Two women died in two farmhouses just west of Johnstown, marking Larimer County's only reported tornado fatality.

  • June 18, 1987: A tornado touched down at an elevation of roughly 9,000 feet at Colorado State University's mountain campus, uprooting an estimated 1,500 trees and destroying a ropes course.

  • June 4, 2015: The EF-3 tornado formed along the Larimer and Boulder county line. It had a maximum wind speed of 135 mph to 140 mph, damaging 25 homes, including three that were destroyed, between Longmont and Berthoud. No injuries were reported. This was one of only two EF-3 tornadoes in the county, the other being the Windsor tornado. Both backed into the county from the east.

  • May 18, 2018: The last tornado that started in the county was a weak tornado that, oddly enough, formed at an elevation of 9,500 feet near Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Look-back at the devastating Windsor tornado on the 16th anniversary