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EF0 tornado in Riverside County, California

Tornado January 21, 2010 · Riverside County, California

EF0
Rating
14.3 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$3.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. 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

Motorists reported a tornado crossing Interstate 10 near Intake Blvd, where two semi trucks were blown over. Numerous power poles down, and considerable damage to homes and other structures in and around Blythe. Roofs were blown off some homes. The rain-wrapped tornado had peak wind gusts estimated at 80 mph as it moved toward the northeast. Nearby Blythe airport recorded a peak gust of 55 mph, with thunderstorms in the area. To put this storm in perspective, record low pressure was observed at Blythe, 29.02 inches.

The wider storm

The heaviest rainfall and strongest winds of the week hit the deserts on Thursday...with brief torrential rains that left streets flooded and water in the streams and rivers. At Imperial over two inches of rain fell between the 18th and the 22nd, with 1.10 inches on the 21st. Winds resulted in damage to many areas...and record low barometric pressure.

Began near Ripley (33.5105, -114.7453).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 208489. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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