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EF0 tornado in Eddy County, New Mexico

Tornado September 17, 2016 · Eddy County, New Mexico

EF0

Rating

0.9 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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 supercell thunderstorm moved southeast across Eddy County and produced a weak tornado approximately 17 miles north northeast of Carlsbad, NM. Eyewitness reports from a storm spotter in the area indicate the tornado began around 5:50 pm CDT and lasted only a few minutes. This tornado, rated an EF0, touched down in open fields and no damage was reported.

The wider storm

An upper level disturbance moved over the area, and a lingering frontal boundary was across parts of southeast New Mexico and the Permian Basin. Upper level lift associated with an area of intense winds aloft moved over the region. There was good wind shear, moisture, and instability across West Texas and southeast New Mexico. Two other boundaries were moving toward the area and possibly collided with the initial boundary. These conditions combined to create good lift in the atmosphere which resulted in widespread thunderstorms with large hail across southeast New Mexico and the Permian Basin. The wind shear created spin in the atmosphere which allowed for tornadoes to develop in the Permian Basin and southeast New Mexico.

Began near Carlsbad (32.6473, -104.1183).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 659597. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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