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EF2 tornado in Kitsap County, Washington

Tornado December 18, 2018 · Kitsap County, Washington

EF2

Rating

1.4 mi

Path length

285 yd

Path width

$1.2M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 285 yards (0.16 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

At 1350PST, a tornado touched down near Port Orchard, WA. This tornado continued on the ground in a northeast direction for approximately 5 minutes. Significant structure damage was evident in the damage path, including one home where the roof was completely removed. Ultimately, 300 homes and businesses were impacted by the tornado. It resulted in 25 red-tagged (uninhabitable), and 20 yellow-tagged (habitable at own risk) homes.

The wider storm

In the wake of heavy rain, a cold unstable air mass resulted in isolated strong thunderstorms during the afternoon of December 18, 2018. The strongest storm developed over Kitsap County, WA, ultimately producing an EF-2 tornado.

Began near Port Orchard (47.5070, -122.6395).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 798658. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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