EF0 tornado in Santa Cruz County, California

Tornado January 6, 2019 · Santa Cruz County, California

EF0

Rating

0.5 mi

Path length

6 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. 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

Waterspout crossed the Santa Cruz Wharf, striking the Dolphin Restaurant and removing approximately 35 percent of its roof. The tornado also moved several picnic tables a few feet from their original position. The Dolphin general manager said that it felt like an earthquake struck the building at the peak of the lunch hour, but that the tornado dissipated shortly after striking the wharf.

The wider storm

A vigorous cold front swept through California on January 5th bringing widespread rainfall and gusty winds. Unstable air behind the frontal passage and sufficient low level shear allowed shallow thunderstorms to develop over the coastal waters, some of which contained rotating cells. Two waterspouts developed and made landfall as tornadoes on the 6th. Additionally, heavy rainfall and strong winds caused roadway flooding, minor debris flows, and numerous downed trees across the region. This storm system caused two fatalities; one caused by a downed tree in Berkeley and another man died in Santa Rosa Creek due to rising waters.

Began near Santa Cruz (36.9569, -122.0181).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF0 Santa Cruz County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 796257. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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