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EF1 tornado in Pierce County, Washington

Tornado September 30, 2013 · Pierce County, Washington

EF1

Rating

1.0 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

$25K

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 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

EF1 tornado on the ground for 5 minutes or less. Path length about 1 mile. Width 75 yards. Max wind speed estimated at 110 mph. Key damage - tore off part of the roof of businesses at NW Door and again at Encon across the street, and on the Fredrickson Boeing Plant facility blew over several empty rail boxcars, knocked down a Rohn tower and several parking lot lamp posts, blew down over two dozen trees, and about a dozen vehicles with damage.

The wider storm

An EF1 tornado touched down near Frederickson.

Began near Frederickson (47.0847, -122.3607).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 473041. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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