Tornado Digest

Tornado Digest: Active first week of June; more busy days to come?

Ian Livingston

Tornado near Trinidad, CO. (YouTube)
Tornado near Trinidad, CO. (YouTube)
Looking back at the week of June 1-7, and a brief look ahead.

The first week of June was the most active when it comes to tornadoes since the final week of April which featured an outbreak across the southern United States.

Tornadoes were reported on all days, as is often typical for early June. While we begin to drop out of the peak of the peak for spring activity, days producing at least one tornado continue to remain very through the first half of the month.

Tornado “winners” on the week included the high Plains — centered on Colorado — as well as parts of the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. For this week, and after another big day in Colorado on Sunday, we should continue to see at least small-scale tornado threats off and on.

Tornado activity across the United States from June 1-7, 2014.
Tornado activity across the United States from June 1-7, 2014.

June 1: Central and Northern Plains

A faster flow of winds aloft continued to pass over increased surface moisture, setting the stage for numerous thunderstorms over the center of the country. A few produced weak tornadoes to start the week, like the landspout seen below from North Dakota.

June 3: Central Plains

June 3 ended up a “high risk” day for wind, but it also held considerable tornado threats that generally verified on the lower end of possibilities, and pretty close (I was skeptical) to our forecast.

A number of tornadoes were reported in the main risk zone across Nebraska, but many were never confirmed while others were brief and rain-wrapped for the most part. The biggest tornado of the day, an EF3 occurred after dark just across the NE/KS border in northeast Kansas.

June 4: Midwest/Ohio Valley and Colorado

Tornadoes were reported east of the Mississippi River on this day, including two that touched down in Kentucky during the evening. Several weak tornadoes were also reported in Colorado to the east of Denver near and after dark.

June 5: Northern Plains

A brief tornado threat popped up on June 5 across the upper Plains and Midwest as several supercells fired in the Sioux Falls, ND to Omaha, NE corridor before drifting around a bit. A number of funnel clouds occurred, along with an apparent tornado touchdown near Luverne, Minnesota as seen below.

June 6: High Plains

What 2014 has lacked in overall tornadoes, it seems to be making up in upslope severe thunderstorm and high-elevation tornadoes. On June 6, we saw a pretty classic high plains supercell event that stretched from Nebraska down into New Mexico and Texas. The tornado of the day arguably was one which touched down near Trinidad in Colorado. Mostly weak landspout tornadoes were reported elsewhere, but a large cone tornado was caught on video near Spearman, Texas during the evening.


Tornado near Trinidad, Colorado. By jjs81082.


Tornado near Spearman, Texas. By Shalyn Phillips.

June 7: Highs Plains and Mississippi Valley

Multiple waves of atmospheric energy continued streaming by, causing isolated tornadoes in various locations across the country, including New Mexico and Missouri.


St Louis area tornado. By Dan Robinson of StormHighway.com.

More June tornadoes to come?

The easy answer to that is of course yes.

Overall, it appears this coming week will be less active than the last, but that’s partly because the next few days will be somewhat tame in the regions that have been seeing the most continual supercells and tornadoes recently. That’s because a system pushing east is temporarily cutting off moisture to the region, but that won’t last long.

As we get later into the week, continued atmospheric waves pushing through the western U.S. should try to spill east out into the Plains by late this work week. Perhaps ultimately also further east as we get through next weekend.

GFS model forecast for 500mb showing a trough pushing through the northwestern parts of the country and out into the Plains around late Friday and beyond. (Weatherbell.com)
GFS model forecast for 500mb showing a trough pushing through the northwestern parts of the country and out into the Plains around late Friday and beyond. (Weatherbell.com)

The greatest odds for tornadoes may lie in the north, as is typical as we get further into summer. Subject to change as we close in though…

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Ian Livingston

Information lead and forecaster for the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang.
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