Four twisters touch down near Parker, Castle Rock
Rocky Mountain News
Published August 24, 2008 at 5:44 p.m.
Updated August 24, 2008 at 10:10 p.m.
Bob Dunn © Special to The Rocky
A tornado touched down between Castle Pines North and Parker east of I-25 and west of Crowfoot Valley Road near Hess Reservoir Sunday afternoon August 24, 2008.
At least four tornadoes touched down Sunday afternoon southeast of Denver between the towns of Castle Rock and Parker, but somehow managed to twist dangerously by new housing developments.
The thunderstorms also unleashed a sudden deluge of rain and hail on several subdivisions.
"It was like it snowed during and after the tornado," said Stephen Klein, 15, who lives in the Sapphire Pointe subdivision with his family about a mile-and-a-half southeast of where the tornado touched down. Klein, his mother and two brothers headed to the basement after a neighbor alerted them of the twister.
The storm also triggered a spectacular lightning show around Douglas and Elbert counties.
Clouds and dark skies lingered throught the evening.
Jim and Paulette Vigil were driving through Parker and heading to Franktown with their two sons when they spotted the tornado west of town. The Vigils pulled over at South Parker and East Hilltop roads to take videos of the twister.
"It was a strand, and then it just widened and broadened at the bottom," Paulette Vigil said.
"It seemed like it was hitting right on top of a house, but it may have come to the south of the house. It was incredible to see," her husband added. Jim Vigil has lived in Colorado all his life and it was the first tornado he had seen in person.
Several sightings of the dusty twisters were reported, but there were no reports of damage or injuries except for downed trees.
There were additional reports of funnel clouds near Larkspur and west of Sedalia, said Douglas County sheriff's spokeswoman Cocha Heyden. Deputies and firefighters were dispatched, but none reported any damage.
Because of the Democratic National Convention, the county had opened its emergency operations center as a precaution prior to the tornado sightings, Heyden said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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A Rocky Mountain News and MediaStorm production
August 24, 2008
6:09 p.m.
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rage_against_the_stupid writes:
I can't believe it, The RMN still has an employee available to post real news that actually affects the people that pay to keep them in business. But wait! This little weather incident may reflect badly on the city of Denver and may, God Help Us All, cause some DNC delegates to be late coming into DIA.
August 24, 2008
6:21 p.m.
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Derrek writes:
Saw the tornado off of i-25 and happy canyon(I was near Ponderosa High School). Was down for a bit and look kinda cool looking for my first live tornado. Hope no one got hurt though. I took a few pics of it (50-150?). Wanna make a time laps video of it soon.
Never saw the other two though, but was focusing on the one to the west (never looked east).
-Derrek
August 24, 2008
7:14 p.m.
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lisadee writes:
I was on my way back to Denver and my dad and I saw the tornado off I-25. It was scarey to see something so close. My thought is why were none of us alerted???
THERE WAS NOTHING ON THE RADIO ABOUT IT. NICE TO KNOW THE ALERT SYSTEMS WORKED WELL IN LETTING US KNOW!!! WE COULD HAVE DROVE RIGHT INTO IT WITH NOT BEING AWARE OF WHAT WAS GOING ON. WE WERE LUCKY TO HAVE SEEN IT FROM A DISTANCE AND HAD TIME TO GET OFF THE ROAD AND PREPARE FOR SHELTER. THANK GOD FOR CELL PHONES SO WE COULD CALL HOME AND HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT WAS GOING ON!!!
WE HOPE EVERYONE IS OK!
August 24, 2008
7:35 p.m.
Suggest removal
Zim writes:
Watched this thing from my bedroom window. Definitely a spooky experience.
August 24, 2008
7:36 p.m.
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colo_heff writes:
Captured a 3:17 min video of one from the Franktown area... really awesome and praying no one got hurt.... by the way, I heard about it on the RADIO (KYGO), hopped in the car, and got this footage.
August 24, 2008
8:29 p.m.
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bigkid writes:
just a warmup for the messiah..maybe he will be taken up to his throne?? ...if so thank you Jesus!
August 24, 2008
9:17 p.m.
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demoncrat writes:
This is a sign from God that evil people are arriving to Denver. People that give the homeless haircuts only while they are here to make them look better to the dubious media arriving...
Glad to hear that no one was injured...
Bob
August 24, 2008
10:13 p.m.
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DAVIB writes:
Sorry folks, that was not a tornado, that was Hillary and Nancy flying in on their brooms.......
August 24, 2008
10:14 p.m.
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TSMommy writes:
Bob, THREE touched down: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost and NO ONE WAS HURT; NO DAMAGE DONE!!!! It was a sign from God that the blessed people arriving in Denver are going to do no harm, unlike the storm of Bush - remember Katrina! You can take ANY incident and see it many ways. Don't you think God has more to do than worry about a convention? And it wasn't the Democrats who gave the homeless haircuts it was an independent hair salon (which had both GOP's and DEM's) who thought it would be nice for them and good for Denver!
August 24, 2008
10:15 p.m.
Suggest removal
bluecollarbytes writes:
Yeah, we can send a man to the moon {or used to be able to do that}, but can't even create alarms that follow tornadoes around warning folks. Doesn't anyone Care anymore? And what is Bush/Cheney's part in all this? There "just so happened" to be a tornado on the eve of the DNC? Sounds as likely as tall buildings collapsing after getting hit by fuel-laden jets.
August 24, 2008
10:19 p.m.
Suggest removal
sofasurfer writes:
I want to hear more about this "homeless haircuts".
August 24, 2008
10:25 p.m.
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commoncents writes:
Another attempt by McCain to usurp Obamas powerful message. Or not......
August 24, 2008
11:28 p.m.
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Zim writes:
It's amazing how people can turn even a twister touching down into a political discussion. Hey! Look! I have a weed growing in my yard. It must be those damn Democrats and Republicans.
August 25, 2008
12:13 a.m.
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TSMommy writes:
Zim, it is! . . . because of all the fertilizer they spread around ;-)
August 25, 2008
1:12 a.m.
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squeege writes:
Wow! The disdain for the DNC here (especially love the 'Hillary and Nancy flying in on their brooms' rejoinder) is top notch!
There might be hope for Colorado after all.
August 25, 2008
1:19 a.m.
Suggest removal
Laser69 writes:
TSMommy
I highly doubt God would be all that happy with a political group that advocates the killing of more Human Life than Hitler ever did. Nothing worse then fake Christians who can't even understand the beliefs they profess to believe.
August 25, 2008
5:31 a.m.
Suggest removal
Hause writes:
Look folks, this was a natural occurance. The 'storm' people need to be watching is the snowstorm/blinding that BHO/Biden bring. Colorado is just one of those states that weather patterns can mix like making fruit juice out of 20 different fruits-stuff happens. Kudos on reporting just the facts. As it was said, nice to see there are still a few true reporters of news left rather than agenda pushing puppets.
August 25, 2008
6:30 a.m.
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danirobi writes:
TSMommy- Yes because President Bush and John McCain can controll the weather...heres the thing about Katrina. When you have NOAA and the Nationa Weather Service telling you to get out of New Orleans about a week and half before the hurricane comes through, you should probably listen to them. Oh and I like the fact that the Mayor of New Orleans didn't use all those school buses to evacuate the citizens....
August 25, 2008
7:54 a.m.
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ElGordo writes:
Sounds like Focus on the Family was praying extra hard. Too bad they missed their mark.
August 25, 2008
8:19 a.m.
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denversphinest writes:
After reading all of these comments, it has become very clear to me.... This tornado was created and sent here FROM the Republican party, ordered by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. This whole time, I was convinced that Tornadoes were the result of warm/cold pressure which then would spawn hail/rain/wind/funnel clouds but what a fool I was to think that. I do see the direct link now with people offering the homeless haircuts and how that WILL cause destructive weather patterns. What are we thinking Colorado?? Why would we do this to our innocent children?? Did THEY ask us to clean up our city, bring in extra revenue and help the homeless so that they would be killed by tornadoes?? NO! What's next, a Tsunami?? Well man, I will really be convinced then.... Lord help us if someone decides to do any charity work during this Convention, we will all certainly die.... all we can do is pray to God that the giving and the freedom or speech and thought stops, so that we don't have to worry about severe weather in our Great State any longer. God bless you all and remember, helping the homeless = death and destruction. Just don't do it.
August 25, 2008
8:26 a.m.
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Dirtt writes:
Tornados are serious.
But Hurricane Freddie and Hurricane Fannie hit Denver and the rest of the world already.
What I want to hear from this convention is when are they going to prosecute Jamie Gorelick and Frank Raines and the other crack-dealers who were allowed to take the fabric of America and break it like a rotten egg?
Before it's all said and done two trillion dollars will have 'gone missing' which is making this a Congressional unnatural disaster.
August 25, 2008
9:19 a.m.
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xdream writes:
I oppose Tornados and believe States and Counties should be taxed for having them. They disproportionately affect the poor, women, and minorities. Despite the US’s relatively small land area, the US has more tornados than any other country. This shows how mean we are. It is time for a change. Tax Here, Tax Now! Go Obama!
August 25, 2008
10:15 a.m.
Suggest removal
meerkat12 writes:
We live in SE Fort Collins, very close to Windsor. When we had the tornadoes near us in May, our Emergency Manager knew a tornado had stuck Windsor and chose not to sound alarms by us. He said he is trying to train citizens to listen to the radio/tv instead of rely on alarms. What a tragic lesson he would have given had anyone in Fort Collins died.
August 25, 2008
10:57 a.m.
Suggest removal
TSMommy writes:
Laser69 - that's my point - God doesn't care about ANY political group. This was just a tornado touching down - it doesn't say anything about God's wishes. Anyone can see religious signs in anything and make any point they want. And it's sooo Christian of you calling others "fake" Christians. Judging others if I recall is actually a no no - "judge not lest ye be judged", and "cast the first stone" ring any bells? In my Book God gave us free will - choice. Having choice still requires us to do the right thing. Without choice how can we glorify by making the right choices?
August 25, 2008
11:01 a.m.
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TSMommy writes:
danirobi, I suppose I didn't make my point well enough - This was just a tornado touching down - it doesn't say anything about God's wishes. Anyone can see religious signs in anything and make any point they want whether it's supported by facts or not.
August 25, 2008
12:30 p.m.
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reshas1 writes:
We were at our daughters softball game at Salisbury Park in Parker, it started out as a small funnel that was horizontal. The next time I looked it was down on the ground. We high tailed it out of there, our son was 2 miles away at home, so we called him and told him to get in the basement. We went thru a downpour and hail. By the time we got home(Pradera area) it was dissipating.
August 25, 2008
1:12 p.m.
Suggest removal
EOD writes:
All I can say-God is speaking and no one is listening?
Poll of likely voters: 48% Obama, 48% McCain and 50% neither (or none of the above)
Copy and paste this link and see were our country is heading:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8SfiC...
August 25, 2008
1:22 p.m.
Suggest removal
poipo654 writes:
The Democrat Convention, four tornadoes, and the threat of a Bon Jovi concert later in the week. Good grief, haven't the people of Denver suffered enough?
August 25, 2008
1:24 p.m.
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EOD writes:
To clear up my comment:
When likely voters where asked who they where going to vote for, 50% said neither McCain or Obama, but of the ones that answered one or the other 48%-was Obama and 48%-was McCain. 4% undecided on which. Just wanted to clear that up. It seems funny that the MSM fails to mention that. They are predicting the lowest voting turnout ever in percentage points.
August 25, 2008
1:24 p.m.
Suggest removal
biggus writes:
I am not surprised that these tornados hit right before the Democratic National Convention. The weather in Denver has been unusally cool recently because Al Gore is a liar. Now that the Democratic politicians have shown up in Denver, their hot air messed up the Denver climate. As a result, the tornados formed.
August 25, 2008
3:01 p.m.
Suggest removal
kelcrowhill writes:
I live in Parker and my family and I watched the Crowfoot Valley tornado from our front yard. Afterwards, I fully expected to hear comments like those from demoncrat, DAVIB, TSMommy, squeege, and biggus. To continue with the metaphors, yesterday I saw amazing winds of change, only dangerous to those that refuse to recognize or bend with the force of nature (or metaphorically, the will of the people). Does that scare you?
Possibly, they were just plain old tornadoes after all. Anyway, we got some great pictures and wild memories!
August 25, 2008
3:35 p.m.
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kelcrowhill writes:
Oh! I should not have included TSMommy in that. Sincere apologies.
August 25, 2008
4:46 p.m.
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Francesca writes:
DAVIB: ROTFMAO! You forgot Cindy Sheehan.
Funnels (and sometimes one would touch down) used to be common sights out in the Douglas/Elbert county areas, esp. in early summer. We'd watch them out to the southeast from the balcony near Parker Road and Jordan all the time. Surprised there haven't been more of them quite frankly. In fact, in '65 a tornado went right smack through the center of Valley CC's clubhouse, during that bad flood. That big bridge over Cherry Creek on Arapahoe was completely wiped away... dead livestock everywhere. It was pretty bad.