Rare high-elevation tornado confirmed at Pikes Peak in the Rockies

The myth that tornadoes can't happen in the mountains is proven wrong for the second time in a year with a tornado at over 10,000 feet.

Have you heard the myth that tornadoes can't happen in the mountains? This has been proven wrong twice in just over a year at one of the United States' highest mountains -- Pikes Peak, Colorado.

The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed Saturday that an EF1 tornado with 100-mph winds touched down 5 miles north-northeast of Cripple Creek, Colorado, on Friday, Aug. 9. Cripple Creek is about 3.6 miles southwest of Pikes Peak.

According to the NWS, the tornado traveled northeastward for about 1 mile, knocking down 300 trees at an elevation of 10,050 feet and breaking a window in a nearby home. Two other houses experienced near misses. Drone footage showed trees down approaching a house on a hill and several areas of trees down in the forest.

The tornado comes just over a year after an EF1 tornado with 108-mph winds hit Crystal Creek Reservoir, 4.9 miles north of Pikes Peak, on July 20, 2023. That tornado also caused tree damage and crossed the Pikes Peak Highway.

Tornadoes are less common in mountainous areas because mountains often disrupt the circulation of severe thunderstorms, but tornadoes are still possible, even above 10,000 feet.

Two tornadoes occurring at that elevation in about a year could mean they are more common than meteorologists previously thought. They may just not have been well documented years ago in low-population areas before the advent of cell phones and social media.

The highest-elevation tornado documented occurred at 12,156 feet at Rockwell Pass, California, on July 7, 2004, and was photographed. Another tornado at 11,900 feet was photographed on July 28, 2012.

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