The last few years have been very quiet for tornadoes, but years with cold spring temperatures invariably have large tornado outbreaks, and alarmists invariably try to blame them on global warming.
I was nearly caught in this massive F3 tornado in 2008, which destroyed much of Windsor, Colorado. The morning started out very warm and humid, and then a cold front moved through around noon. It felt like the gates of hell had opened up.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfYuT0oalXQ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfYuT0oalXQ
On Thursday, May 22, 2008, a wide and powerful tornado swept north northwestward for 39 miles from northeast of Platteville in Weld County to 6 miles west-northwest of Wellington in Larimer County. The National Weather Service tornado damage assessments conducted on Friday, May 23rd and Saturday, May 24th documented large areas of damage. On the enhanced Fujita scale there were pockets of EF3 damage especially near the Missile Silo Park Campground west of Greeley and to homes and businesses in eastern Windsor. Wind estimates in the heavily damaged areas were as high as 130 to 150 mph.
The tornado was as wide as one mile at times along its path. There was one fatality and 78 injuries. At least 850 homes were damaged, with nearly 300 homes signficantly damged or destroyed. Privately insured damages total $193.5 million, and the Poudre Valley Rural Electric Association reported one million dollars of damage to electric transmission facilities.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/bou/?n=news_116
