Eastern Colorado witnessed a spell of severe weather on Sunday as a landspout tornado made its presence felt in Morgan County, between Brush and Akron. According to 9NEWS, the phenomenon was seen around 3:48 p.m. and lingered for approximately five minutes. Concurrent thunderstorms catalyzed delays at Denver International Airport, disrupting the travel plans of many.
With Colorado's meteorological dynamics in mind, more afternoon and evening thunderstorms are expected through Monday. CBS News Colorado foresees the potent mix of moisture and northeastern winds ushering in, severity, particularly east of Denver where hail could swell to golf-ball size and winds could rattle with significant gusts.
The nature of this particular tornado seems to differ from the more commonly known supercell tornadoes. As clarified by social media users and echoed by KDVR, this was likely a landspout tornado, which means its formation began from the ground up, absent of the rotating updraft of supercell storms. These landspouts tend to be more narrow and rope-like in appearance, and despite their lack of a formidable updraft, the associated thunderstorm still managed wind bursts up to 40 mph while dropping penny-sized hail on the region.
