Colorado’s don’t occur in the mountains, right? Well based on a twister that might have touched down in Divide, Colorado, on June 17th, that’s not really the case.
According to KOAA NEWS5, what might have been a tornado caused downed power lines and trees along County Road 511 and 51. The National Weather Service still needs to investigate and confirm whether this was tornado damage or straight line wind damage, but videos captured of the weather sure make it look like a twister of some sort.
Divide, Colorado, sits at an elevation above 9,118 feet, located just northwest of Pikes Peak. While myth might state that tornadoes can’t occur in mountains, let this be a reminder that no area is completely safe of tornadoes. In the late 1980s, a tornado swept up and down a 10,000 foot mountain near Yellowstone National Park.
Tornadoes occur most frequently in the Midwest plains simply because that’s where conditions are often the most ideal. Tornadoes thrive in the humid and unstable air that form thunderstorms. Both since fewer people live in the mountains and since mountains tend to have cooler, more stable air, noticeable tornado activity is much less frequent than in areas around the midwest.
