A tornado that touched down in western Park County today south of the town of Fairplay as seen in this video. This is the 6th confirmed tornado in Park County since records began in 1950. #COwx pic.twitter.com/thcZIsM4lp
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) July 5, 2018
The National Weather Service in Boulder confirmed a tornado touched down between Fairplay and Hartsel, close to where nearly more than 500 firefighters are working to contain the Weston Pass Fire.
There’s no word about damage from the twister, which was captured by multiple social media users. Josh Erickson said on Twitter he saw the wildfire smoke being mixed with the tornado, but it’s not clear if the fire made local weather conditions more favorable for a funnel cloud to form.
— Josh Erickson (@cuse34) July 5, 2018
Tornadoes in mountainous areas are rare, but they can happen. This is the sixth recorded tornado in Park County since 1950.
A tornado also touched down close to the Devil’s Head lookout tower in Douglas County in 2015. That tornado was rated as an EF1, the weakest possible tornado rating.
