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EF3 tornado in Coconino County, Arizona

Tornado October 6, 2010 · Coconino County, Arizona

EF3
Rating
4.0 mi
Path length
1,100 yd
Path width
$200K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,100 yards (0.62 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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 collapsed three 500 KV electrical transmission towers. The towers were of metal truss construction. One tower was completely flattened. Photographic evidence and first-hand reports were provided by Arizona Public Service. Tornado damage intensity is rated at EF-3. Damage path length indeterminable.

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 Moenkopi (35.9090, -111.0050).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 261977. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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