page_title: Tornado outbreak sequence of May 22–31, 2008
section_title: Windsor, Colorado
hierarchical_section_title: Tornado outbreak sequence of May 22–31, 2008 / Notable tornadoes / Windsor, Colorado
caption_attribution_description: English: EF3 damage to a two-story office building in Windsor.
context_page_description: The tornado outbreak sequence of May 22–31, 2008 was a series of tornado outbreaks affecting the central plains of the United States from May 22 to May 31 of 2008. It was also one of the largest continuous tornado outbreaks on record. A total 239 tornadoes were confirmed, with the most intense activity occurring across the Great Plains. One person was killed when a large wedge tornado struck Windsor, Colorado, and two more deaths were reported in Pratt County, Kansas. One person was also killed near Hugo, Minnesota on May 25 and nine were killed by an EF5 tornado that destroyed most of Parkersburg, Iowa and a small subdivision of New Hartford, Iowa. Another fatality, caused by lightning related to the storms, occurred in central Kansas.
context_section_description: Just before noon on May 22, a mile-wide, EF3 wedge tornado developed between the towns of Platteville and Gilcrest, Colorado. The tornado was caught on tape and accompanied by baseball sized hail as it traveled near Interstate 25. The tornado moved along an unusual northwestward path, causing extensive damage to crops, outbuildings, and irrigation systems in this rural area. The tornado then passed east of Milliken, causing additional property damage before it struck the Missile Silo Park Campground west of Greeley, where one man was killed in his motor home. Large metal electrical transmission poles were snapped off at their bases near the campground, indicative of EF3 intensity. Tractor-trailers were flipped and hundreds of power poles were snapped as the tornado continued northwestward. The large wedge tornado then struck the town of Windsor directly, damaging hundreds of homes and several businesses at EF2 to EF3 strength. The most intense damage occurred in the eastern part of town, where some homes lost roofs and exterior walls, and trees sustained extensive denuding and some debarking. An automotive business almost entirely collapsed, and a small two-story office building had its second story torn off, and sustained collapse of exterior walls on the first floor. A train in town was derailed, with 15 rail cars overturned and a lumber car destroyed. The tornado also flattened Windsor's main feedlot and destroyed a dairy barn, killing numerous cows. The Windmill Daycare Center sustained a direct hit, where about 150 children were located but none were injured as they took cover from the storm, which blew out most of the building's windows and removed a large section of its roof. The tornado continued through rural areas north of Windsor and narrowed. A barn and two outbuildings were destroyed as it passed near the town of Timnath. A center pivot was overturned and a parked car was swept around the corner of a house and rolled over as well. The tornado eventually dissipated northeast of Fort Collins. In addition to the fatality, 78 injuries occurred, ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones. 850 homes were damaged, and nearly 300 homes were left uninhabitable or destroyed along the path.
  The Windsor tornado was the first killer and EF3 tornado in Colorado since a nighttime EF3 hit Holly  in Kiowa County near the Kansas state line. That tornado killed two as part of a similar outbreak on March 28, 2007. The Windsor tornado caused a total of $147 million in damages, making it the 4th costliest disaster in Colorado state history.
caption: EF3 damage to a two-story office building in Windsor.
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