100
Recorded events
0
Direct deaths
5
Direct injuries
$9.6M
Property damage
Tornado in Arapahoe County, Colorado: 100 recorded events between 1964 and 2025. The strongest on record measured F2. That places the county #49 nationally and #9 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Arapahoe County, Colorado: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Arapahoe County is the 1990s, when 29 of the county's 100 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Arapahoe County archive, tornado makes up 11.0% of all recorded severe weather across 7 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #49 for this hazard and #9 within Colorado, putting it in the 98.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jun is the peak month for tornado in Arapahoe County with 35 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-05-18 | EF2 | 4.3 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-05-18 | EF2 | 0.9 mi | 50 yd | Crossed in |
| 1996-07-13 | EF2 | 12.0 mi | 440 yd | Crossed in |
| 1986-06-08 | EF2 | 1.1 mi | 50 yd | Crossed in |
| 1978-05-17 | EF2 | 0.5 mi | 33 yd | Touched down here |
| 2025-05-18 | EF1 | 2.6 mi | 75 yd | Touched down here |
| 2018-07-27 | EF1 | 1.3 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 2018-07-27 | EF1 | 2.0 mi | 50 yd | Touched down here |
| 2017-10-06 | EF1 | 0.0 mi | 25 yd | Touched down here |
| 2015-06-24 | EF1 | 2.8 mi | 50 yd | Crossed in |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 7, 2009 | AURORA CHERRY CREEK | EF1 | 0 | 2 | $500K |
| Jul 27, 2018 | PEORIA | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $200K |
| Jun 8, 2014 | (BKF)BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE | EF1 | 0 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 29, 2002 | (APA)ENGLWOOD ARAPAH | F1 | 0 | 1 | $6.0M |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 10, 2025 | PEORIA | EFU | $0 |
| May 18, 2025 | ARAPAHOE PARK | EF2 | $0 |
| May 18, 2025 | ARAPAHOE PARK | EF1 | $0 |
| Jul 6, 2023 | ARAPAHOE PARK | EFU | $0 |
| Jul 29, 2022 | (BKF)BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE | EFU | $0 |
| May 22, 2021 | BYERS | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 27, 2018 | DEER TRAIL | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 27, 2018 | DEER TRAIL | EF0 | $0 |
| Jul 27, 2018 | PEORIA | EF1 | $200K |
| Oct 6, 2017 | PEORIA | EF1 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Arapahoe County
- Hail 592
- Thunderstorm Wind 146
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The second tornado, associated with the storm, touched down in a subdivision that was under construction at Gartrell and Arapahoe Road. Four large condominiums under construction were destroyed. The most heavily damaged portions of the structures had not been sheet rocked. Adjacent sections, where the walls were in place, were not destroyed. A man suffered four broken ribs and several cuts and bruises when the trailer he sought shelter in, was flipped three times and torn apart by the tornado.
A tornado touched down in southeast Aurora, south of Buckley Airport, and moved south-southeast across open fields, some residential areas, and Southlands Mall. Numerous homes and apartments suffered window damage, minor roof damage and there were a few broken garage doors. The Southlands Mall had some roof and window damage, and wall damage to one of its restaurants. South of the mall, Lowe's received some roof damage, and lightweight sheds and other structures were destroyed. One resident, in the Sorrel Ranch subdivision, north of the mall, was swept off his porch while attempting to get close-up pictures of the tornado. He was found unconcious and bleeding in his front yard, with a dislocated shoulder, an injured neck, and multiple other injuries. In addition, the tornado flipped a trailer home. A man inside the trailer suffered minor injuries.
A tornado touched down briefly and tore the roof off a manufactured home. It partially destroyed an outbuilding, flipped over a UPS delivery truck and damaged farm equipment. The driver was hospitalized with minor injuries.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Arapahoe County, Colorado?
100 tornado events are recorded in Arapahoe County between 1964 and 2025, causing 0 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Arapahoe County?
The strongest tornado on record in Arapahoe County measured F2.
Where does the tornado data for Arapahoe County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Arapahoe County, Colorado.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/colorado/arapahoe-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.