Videos posted to social media show tornadoes sweeping across Colorado during severe thunderstorms.
The tornadoes touched down in Akron, and were generated from powerful storms that swept across the northeast of the state on Wednesday.
Social media users posted clips where the twisters can be seen traveling across open fields.
A stock photo shows a tornado sweeping across a field. Videos posted to social media show tornadoes sweeping across Colorado. A stock photo shows a tornado sweeping across a field. Videos posted to social media show tornadoes sweeping across Colorado. Francis Lavigne-Theriault/Getty"Tornadoes were popping off all across northeast Colorado today," news service WeatherNation said on Twitter, alongside a video of a tornado in Akron.
Storm chaser Aaron Jayjack also captured a video of the twister in the same area.
In the video, Jayjack films the tornado before jumping back in his car.
"We've got to go back, it's on the ground," he can be heard saying before driving away, and capturing more footage of the tornado from the car.
One social media user even captured a tornado over the Rocky Mountains, from Montana.
"So crazy. What a trip," the Twitter user said.
There have been no reported deaths or injuries associated with the tornadoes.
The storms triggered tornado warnings across other areas of Colorado including in Denver, Adams and Arapahoe counties. Some areas saw hail and high winds.
Most tornado warnings for other areas were taken down by the early evening, and only severe thunderstorm warnings remained.
This happens frequently with tornadoes, as they are generally difficult to predict.
Jana Houser, an associate professor of meteorology at Ohio State University, told Newsweek in April, that forecasters take environmental conditions into consideration while looking for cues in ongoing storms.
"If they see rotation starting to develop in a storm, and that storm is in an environment that is particularly favorable for tornado formation, they will often issue a warning. The challenge is we don't know with strong confidence whether or not that storm will actually produce a tornado. This is why there ends up being a lot of false alarms. Many storms which are warned, do not end up actually producing tornadoes."
Any kind of thunderstorm has the potential to cause a tornado, but they usually form from supercell storms. These storms are violent and last for a long time, circulating from above. In these storms, the circulation aloft grows in an upwards direction through the storm, and then also downward, towards the floor.
Tornadoes can be extremely dangerous, if they are powerful enough. According to data from the NWS, in an average year there are 80 deaths and 1,500 injuries caused by tornadoes in the U.S.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about tornadoes? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Read more
Videos show tornado hitting Virginia Beach as state of emergency declared
Video of Florida tornado flipping car in air viewed 1 million times
Mercury appears with spectacular comet-like tail in night sky
