Rare high-elevation tornado hit Colorado mountains at over 11,000 feet
Unlike most tornado surveys done in person by the NWS, this tornado was confirmed with the help of satellite photos that showed the path of downed trees.
A rare tornado formed 9,118 feet above sea level and left behind hundreds of leveled trees with some damage to homes on June 17.
A tornado touched down high in the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 13, carving a path through a remote mountain forest at an elevation of 11,300 feet. The rare twister, confirmed by the National Weather Service, is one of only three reported in Saguache County since 1995.
The tornado's strength was rated EFU (unknown on the Enhanced Fujita Scale) because of its remote location. Unlike most tornado surveys done in person by the NWS, this tornado was confirmed with the help of satellite photos that showed the path of downed trees. It tracked down the mountain for 0.84 of a mile and was 95 yards wide.
Track of the Sawtooth Mountain Tornado in Colorado on Sept. 13, 2025 (NWS/Google Earth)
While tornadoes are rarer in the mountains, they can occur at high elevations. An EF1 tornado was confirmed in Divide, Colorado, at an elevation of 9,160 feet on June 17, 2025. Additional twisters were also confirmed near Pikes Peak, Colorado, in 2023, 2024 and 2025 at elevations of 9,000 to 10,500 feet. The highest tornado ever confirmed in Colorado was at Mt. Evans, now known as Mt. Blue Sky, on July 28, 2012, at 11,900 feet.
The highest-elevation tornado ever documented in the United States occurred at 12,156 feet at Rockwell Pass, California, in Sequoia National Park, on July 7, 2004.
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