A rare high-altitude tornado touched down in Colorado’s Custer County on Wednesday, just south of Westcliffe, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
The Custer County Sheriff’s Office shared a photo of the dark funnel cloud in the distance and confirmed that residents in the area received a tornado warning alert on their phones. The funnel appeared near the West Mountain Valley subdivision, south of Westcliffe.
“Deputies and firefighters have searched the area for damage. We report no injuries. The only damage is to three power poles. Sangre Electric is on scene,” the sheriff’s office posted on Facebook.
Westcliffe, located in southern Colorado, sits at an elevation of 7,888 feet, surrounded by the Wet Mountain Range to the east and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the west.
While tornadoes are fairly common across Colorado’s Eastern Plains, they’re extremely rare in high-altitude mountain areas like this.
Rick Sandoval, who lives and works on Wolf Springs Ranch in nearby Huerfano County, witnessed the tornado firsthand:
“It was really special to be right under it and watch it connect with the ground. I’ve watched them form in Kansas. It was a rare spectacle at over 8,000 feet elevation in the mountains,” he told CBS News Colorado.
Sandoval said his property escaped serious damage.
“Nothing bad,” he added. “We didn’t have cattle in that pasture. I think there might have been some damage over the hill on the other side of our property. I saw several emergency vehicles over there when I went out to check fences.”
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Katie is a senior who has been on staff for three years. Her favorite type of stories to write is reviews and features. Katie’s favorite ice cream flavor is strawberry.
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