How often do you get tornado warnings in Denver and surrounding areas?

Question

How often do you actually get tornados??? We may be moving there from Arizona, where natural disasters have yet to happen in my lifetime here. So tornados have me curious and quite scared. What other natural disasters does Denver see?

Answer 1

Tornados that touch down and cause damage are not at all common in Colorado .... especially in places just east of the mountains , like Denver. Denver occasionally has big snow storms, but not often. Denver is just not a location that is prone to "natural disasters". this website shows numbers of Tornados in colorado by county from 1950 to 2003. Looks like high numbers, but remember, it is a 53 yr. period. tornados in colorado are NOT like in Oklahoma or Kansas. There was one really bad one in Limon, about an hour and a half east of Denver several years ago. They are not a big problem in Colorado.

Answer 2

As everyone else is saying, you don't have to worry about tornadoes in the Denver area. I've lived here for almost 20 years, and during that time, there has only been one tornado that could have affected me. I was living in Boulder at the time and there was a small tornado that touched down and did some damage not far from where I lived. Luckily, no one was hurt. The main thing you have to think about here is thunderstorms during the summer. So if one comes up, just go inside and you should be fine.

Answer 3

We get tornado warnings maybe 3-4 times every summer, but never any tornados. All the tornados stick out to the east. As everyone's mentioned, the mountains are our big brothers looking out for us. They stop the tornados, and they get the brunt of the snow. The only thing that sucks sometimes out here is the wind. But that's more of a problem in Fort Collins.

Answer 4

Denver itself does not get many tornadoes, but east of Denver can get some like on the Colorado/Kansas border or North east too. The city and suburbs right by Denver hardly ever.

Answer 5

In my 16 years in Denver, I have never had a tornado even remotely close to my house. The mountains protect the city from most tornados. However, if you are going to be in the Eastern Plains, (closer to Nebraska) then yes there will be tornados. I see tv tornado warnings but they are always for eastern counties.

Answer 6

Tornadoes when they do happen are mostly north east and south east of Denver. I live in Castle Rock 30 min. south of Denver , been here since 1991 . never seen a tornado here

Answer 7

Remain calm- it happens at least a dozen times a year where I live and we have a closet under the stairs leading to the basement with some blankets, water and a flashlight for just in case we need to scramble in there quickly. If there are warnings we head to the family room in the basement and if the sirens go off for a sighting we head to the closet. Luckily we have only had micro bursts (mini tornado's) touch down with minor damage. Just keep a battery powered radio nearby in case you lose power so you can get updates. I hope the storms are over soon!

Answer 8

Well, I live in Cheyenne, it's about an hour and a half away. The most we've had in the 3.5 years I've lived here was thunder storm warnings, I think there have been one or two tornado watches this year. We get a few dustdevils but they're nothing to worry about.

Answer 9

You don't have to worry about tornados! The thing you have to worry about the most is snow but it's not a bad thing. It'd so pretty!

Answer 10

big tall rocky mountains = no big tornadoes

you need a wide open flat space, like Kansas or Nebraska to get a good twister going!