Windsor, Colorado

Colorado

The tornado that tore through Windsor in 2008 travelled backwards, running west instead of east.

disasterhistorical

Tornadoes in northern Colorado move east. The one that hit Windsor on a May morning in 2008 went the other way, tracking west to northwest, and it came down before noon, hours earlier than these storms usually form. Winds in the worst areas were estimated at a hundred sixty five miles an hour. Baseball sized hail fell with it. Fifteen railroad cars were knocked over, along with vehicles and semi trucks. One man, a Vietnam War veteran, died in his RV. Seventy eight others were seriously hurt. The storm struck the Windmill Daycare Center, and every child and staff member walked out with cuts and bruises and nothing worse. Damage came to about a hundred ninety three million dollars across some twenty four thousand insurance claims. The old Windsor Milling and Elevator building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, took nearly ten years to repair.

This is the first of 2 parts. The rest runs about 2 minutes and is read to you as you drive past. Hear the whole piece.

What this was written from
While the time of year and location of the tornado were not unusual, the west to northwest path of the tornado was highly unusual, and the tornado occurred earlier in the day than is typical for the area.

Written from Wikipedia, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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