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EF2 tornado in Coconino County, Arizona

Tornado October 6, 2010 · Coconino County, Arizona

EF2
Rating
14.8 mi
Path length
400 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

The US Forest Service and NWS reported significant tornado damage near Blue Ridge Ranger Station and NWS Radar site. Hundreds of ponderosa pines were blown over or snapped off along a 14.8 mile path. At least one alligator juniper that was 2 and a half feet in diameter was snapped off. Trees were down across Highway 87 between mile markers 296 and 298. NWS Storm Surveys and aerial surveys contributed to the event analysis.

The wider storm

A strong low pressure center over California pushed abundant moisture over Arizona producing widespread thunderstorms with numerous severe storms. Strong vertical wind shear...with helicity in the 400-450 range...also provided an environment for supercell development. There were eleven confirmed tornadoes on October 6, 2010 across northern Arizona (three of the tornadoes were within 2 miles of the NWS Forecast office). This breaks the old record for the most tornadoes in Arizona for one day. The Arizona Governor signed a declaration of emergency for Coconino Country for $200,000 to be used for emergency response and public infrastructure repair.

Began near Clints Well (34.4400, -111.3000).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

10 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF3 Coconino CountyEF3 Coconino CountyEF2 Coconino CountyEF2 Coconino CountyEF2 Coconino CountyEF1 Coconino CountyEF1 Coconino CountyEF0 Yavapai CountyEF0 Coconino CountyEF0 Coconino County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 261946. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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