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EF0 tornado in Linn County, Oregon

Tornado June 4, 2009 · Linn County, Oregon

EF0

Rating

1.5 mi

Path length

150 yd

Path width

$10K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado was reported by the public to local television station KVAL in Eugene. NWS Storm Survey visited the residence and confirmed: a small shed-like structure was lifted off the ground and blown 21 feet to the east - counter to the prevailing storm winds. There were also circular carvings in the grass nearby.

The wider storm

A fairly vigorous upper level low pressure system had been blocked offshore and was finally allowed to progress onshore on June 4th. An upper level disturbance rotated around upper level low pressure system, enhancing divergence aloft and turning upper level flow easterly across much of western Oregon. This overall pattern resulted in enhanced vertical wind shear for the Willamette Valley, with southerly winds near the surface backing to easterly flow aloft. The June 4, 2009 was a significant thunderstorm outbreak by Northwestern Oregon standards, with several areas taking damage from strong thunderstorm wind gusts, minor urban area flooding, and rotation in a few storms resulted in one weak tornado.

Began near Peoria (44.4934, -123.2000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 183539. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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