A remarkable video of twin tornadoes, an infrequent occurrence in the United States, has emerged from Colorado. The side-by-side tornadoes appeared to be over open country a few miles south and west of Akron in Washington County and were captured on camera by storm chaser Tony Laubach. The twisted masses sat still over the same general area for an hour – another rare phenomenon. There were no initial reports of damage in the region, but the storms did produce golf ball-sized hail in many areas, including over North Sterling State Park.
The storms also slammed into parts of the state, producing tornadoes and damaging homes, roads, and power lines. An EF-2 tornado ripped the roof off a Platner home and snapped hundreds of trees at Kamper’s West Park in Wiggins. Its path was also reported to have taken in several trailers near Warrenton. A video posted on Facebook by the National Weather Service shows a man frantically telling his friends to back away from a tornado as it comes toward them. The clip has gone viral online and has been viewed nearly four million times.
On the other side of the country, the National Weather Service said a large tornado touched down Wednesday in southern Aiken County near Wagener and moved through the densely-populated area. The storm damaged multiple trailers, as well as a greenhouse. Another possible tornado hit Burke County, moving northwest from Hephzibah to McBean and then toward Keysville. It then turned north and went into Richmond County before turning west and hitting the county line in Orangeburg County, according to a forecast from the weather service.
Winds over 100 mph destroyed several mobile homes, tore off one house’s roof in Hoisington, Kansas, and ripped up tree limbs and threw them around. It caused minor flooding in some areas.
The same storm system that produced the two tornadoes in Colorado brought severe thunderstorm warnings to parts of the Midwest. Severe thunderstorms, with possible tornadoes, were expected to move into the region from Kansas to Wisconsin on Tuesday night.
KDKA meteorologists are tracking the dangerous storms as they move across the country. You can get the latest updates from our news team by downloading the KDKA mobile app. And be sure to stay updated with the latest breaking news and weather by following us on social media. You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
