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Tornadoes In Jefferson County?

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Contributed by: Richard Gardner on 7/1/2008

July 1 is the 60th anniversary of report of one of the most unusual events ever reported in Jefferson County. It took place on June 29, 1948, and was reported in the Colorado Transcript newspaper on July 1st. Here's what it had to say:

Small Tornado Reported

A "baby" tornado is reported to have whipped through the hills in the upper Golden Gate canyon area last Tuesday. Residents report seeing the funnel shaped cloud swirling through the sky. A frame building owned by Dr. Kenneth Green and located on Muddy creek at the head of Elk creek was completely destroyed. Boards were found strewn a quarter of a mile from the site of the building.

While it has always been theoretically possible for tornadoes to come to Jefferson County (other reports I've known include a funnel over today's western Arvada and another funnel hovering over South Table Mountain), this is the only one I've known where a tornado touched down and destroyed something, in Golden Gate Canyon of all places.

By description it cannot be just any windstorm or a dust devil, and it would seem a genuine EF1 scale tornado. Mountain tornadoes while rare are not unheard of, as one certainly struck Salt Lake City a few years ago. This unusual anniversary goes to show people to always be wary of our severe weather, wherever you are!

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Richard Gardner

Golden , CO

Richard Gardner has posted 101 stories and 1 comment since joining on 9/15/2005. Richard Gardner 's average story rating is 4.95.

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