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EF1 tornado in Sacramento County, California

Tornado October 22, 2012 · Sacramento County, California

EF1
Rating
1.0 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
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 EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 Elk Grove Tornado: Supercells developed behind the cold front along a north-south boundary in the middle of the Central Valley, where both instability and shear were large. Reports of tornado damage were at approximately 3:45pm (PST) near Waterman and Grand Line Roads. The estimated damage path length was about a mile with wind speeds estimated at 90-100mph. A sturdy metal roof was bent back, tree trunks that were several feet in diameter were snapped. Dozens of houses were mildly damaged.

The wider storm

A strong low pressure system moved through northern California, bringing several feet of snow to the mountains, significant rainfall to the valley and foothills, and tornadic supercells in the valley.

Began near Mc Connell (38.3870, -121.3500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Sutter CountyEF1 Yuba CountyEF1 Nevada CountyEF0 Yuba County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 411522. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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