Tornado touches down near Fleming, brings baseball-size hail to Logan County

A tornado touched down near Fleming in Logan County around 6:25 p.m. Tuesday, and the same supercell dropped hail as large as 2.75 inches before the brief twister dissipated. The Fleming Fire Department and the National Weather Service confirmed the touchdown, while storm chasers captured photos and video as the funnel crossed the area.

National Weather Service Denver issued a tornado warning for east central Logan County at 6:13 p.m. MDT, and the alert stayed in effect until 6:45 p.m. At the time of the warning, a confirmed tornado was located 5 miles northwest of Fleming, or 19 miles northeast of Sterling, and moving southeast at 15 mph. The warning named Fleming and Crook as the locations most likely to be impacted.

The warning text identified the hazard as a damaging tornado and baseball-size hail, and law enforcement confirmed the tornado. Mobile homes could be damaged or destroyed, and roofs, windows, vehicles and trees could be damaged.

Later in the evening, a tornado watch continued for Elbert, Washington and Lincoln counties through 9 p.m., after other counties had been removed from the watch. Tornadoes, very large hail and strong winds remained possible with the day’s storms.

National Weather Service Boulder’s tornado history spans 1950 through 2024, and the state has logged hundreds of tornadoes since 1950. Logan County has dealt with major outbreaks before: on June 21, 2023, storms across Logan and Washington counties produced up to 37 tornadoes, most of them weak and short-lived.

The SKYWARN program, with nearly 290,000 trained severe-weather spotters nationwide, works with Doppler radar and other data to speed up tornado warnings.