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EF1 tornado in Pierce County, Washington

Tornado September 6, 2009 · Pierce County, Washington

EF1

Rating

9.6 mi

Path length

170 yd

Path width

$180K

Damage as recorded

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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 EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

Confirmed EF1 tornado with estimated wind speed 100-110 mph. Maximum width was 170 yards. On ground intermittently over a 9.6 mile path length for 16 minutes.

The wider storm

A tornado touched down around 1619 PDT near the southeast corner of Lake Tapps and moved northeast around 36 mph for 16 minutes, lifting off the ground just northeast of Enumclaw. There was also a lightning strike which damaged a home in Auburn.

Began near Bonney Lake (47.1900, -122.1400).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 194441. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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