Tornadoes touch down south of Denver, damaging only trees
Hector Gutierrezand John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
Published August 25, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.
Updated August 25, 2008 at 6:17 a.m.
Photo by Bob Dunn / Special To The Rocky
A tornado makes its way between Castle Pines North and Parker east of Interstate 25 and west of Crowfoot Valley Road near Hess Reservoir on Sunday.
At least three tornadoes touched down Sunday afternoon southeast of Denver between Castle Rock and Parker, but somehow managed to miss new housing developments in the area.
National Weather Service meteorologist Carl Burroughs said Sunday night that his office was trying to confirm whether there was a fourth tornado.
The thunderstorms that spawned the twisters also unleashed a 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, about a mile and a half southeast of where one of the tornadoes touched down. Klein, his mother and two brothers headed to the basement after a neighbor told them about the twister.
The storm also triggered a spectacular lightning show around Douglas and Elbert counties.
Several sightings of the dusty twisters were reported, but there were no reports of damage or injuries except for downed trees.
Additional reports of funnel clouds came in from near Larkspur and west of Sedalia, said Douglas County sheriff's spokeswoman Cocha Heyden.
Jeremy Morris, who lives in Castle Rock, told Denver's 7 that after spotting one of the tornadoes, "I was trying to figure out if I needed to get in my car and drive somewhere or jump in the bathtub."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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9:54 a.m.
Suggest removal
peter303 writes:
The irony was ABC was interviewing an upbeat Hickenlooper on the convention floor, when they suddenly cut away to their amazing live helicopter TV. The mayor was saying "nothing major has gone wrong" when the tornadoes came. Fortunately John was correct.