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EF0 tornado in Grant County, Washington

Tornado May 19, 2010 · Grant County, Washington

EF0
Rating
0.2 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$2K
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

An EF0 tornado touched down five miles northeast of Moses Lake on Northeast Road P. Non-continuous track from south to northwest for one-half to one-third of a mile. The tornado had an estimated width of 100 yards with winds of 65 to 85 miles per hour. The tornado lifted a section of roof that was unattached and sitting on the ground or leaning against something on the ground. The wind lifted this unattached roof about 20 feet off the ground and dropped it 30 feet from its original location onto the old barn, destroying it. A grain silo was damaged by the tornado. Numerous large tree branches were downed, including one tossed 300 feet from the tree. Numerous shingles were spread 120 yards. The time of the tornado is estimated from 5:15 PST to 5:20 PST.

The wider storm

A gust front from a line of convective showers and embedded lightning in spots led to damage over portions of Central and Eastern Washington. In addition, a brief tornado occurred near Moses Lake. On the Palouse and in the Spokane area, four to six diameter tree branches were snapped off. When the gust front hit the Ruby area, lightning was associated with it where local significant damage occurred.

Began near Wheeler (47.1879, -119.1495).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 229175. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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