A powerful supercell thunderstorm swept across northeast Colorado on the afternoon of Friday, May 23, 2025, spawning three tornadoes across Logan and Washington counties, including an EF-2 tornado that caused significant damage in rural areas. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
EF-1 Tornado Near Messex
The first tornado touched down around 5:09 PM MDT in Logan County near the community of Willard. It tracked for nearly 11 miles, crossing into northern Washington County before dissipating just southwest of Prewitt Reservoir. Rated EF-1, the tornado produced winds up to 100 mph, damaging several grain silos, including one that was destroyed and another shifted from its foundation. Despite the damage, there were no reports of injuries.
EF-2 Tornado in Rural Washington County
Shortly after, a stronger EF-2 tornado developed southeast of Prewitt Reservoir at approximately 5:37 PM MDT. This tornado carved an 8.7-mile path, snapping power poles, damaging trees, and hitting a single-family residence with EF-1 intensity. Debris from the property was carried nearly a mile, and power poles were hurled 25 yards, a sign of 118 mph winds. The tornado dissipated just before 6:00 PM MDT.
Brief Tornado Near Akron
A third tornado touched down around 6:10 PM MDT southeast of Akron, confirmed by storm chaser video. This short-lived and weak tornado, rated EF-U due to a lack of observable damage, remained over open fields and dissipated after traveling just half a mile.
Large Hail and Severe Weather
Alongside the tornadoes, the parent supercell also produced large hail, with sizes ranging from golf ball to baseball. One ICECHIP report from northern Washington County noted hail over 3 inches in diameter.
A Week of Tornado Activity
This event occurred just five days after another outbreak of four tornadoes near the Denver metro area on May 18, marking an unusually active week of severe weather across Colorado and the Central Plains.
This serves as a reminder to residents to stay weather-aware during storm season and have multiple ways to receive warnings. All storm survey data is preliminary and subject to revision in future NWS Storm Data publications.