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EF2 tornado in Marion County, Oregon

Tornado December 14, 2010 · Marion County, Oregon

EF2
Rating
5.0 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
2
Injuries
$1.2M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 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

On December 14th at 11:40 AM PST, a tornado with an Enhanced Fujita Scale rating of EF2 moved northeast across the community of Aumsville, Oregon. The estimated length of the tornado path was 5 miles with a width of 150 yards. There were two minor injuries, fifty structures damaged, more than thirty large trees blown down or snapped off, five sheds damaged and two semi-trailers tipped over. The estimated value of the damage was $1.2 million.

The wider storm

A strong cold pool of air aloft produced a very unstable airmass over western Oregon.

A vigorous low pressure center was just off the Washington Coast with a surface trough moving through western Oregon. This trough served as a focus for thunderstorms during the day. One of these thunderstorms produced a tornado that wreaked havoc on the community of Aumsville.

Began near Aumsville (44.8398, -122.8789).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 272912. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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