EF1 tornado in Grays Harbor County, Washington

Tornado October 10, 2020 · Grays Harbor County, Washington

EF1

Rating

0.5 mi

Path length

30 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 30 yards (0.02 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

A Quinault Indian Nation Fire official reported that at approximately 5:20 AM he came upon 10 downed trees (1-2.5 feet in diameter) across Moclips Highway (S-26) at approximately mile marker 18. Photographs were provided of the downed trees. Subsequent reports and imagery from a trained spotter identified additional damage approximately 0.5 miles to the northeast across a forest service road. No injuries or other impacts were reported.

An evaluation of the photographic evidence from local officials and the trained spotter combined with radar signatures from the event are consistent with a brief tornado. Based on the location and path length the tornado most likely touched down at 4:40am and lasted for less than 2 minutes, traveling 0.50 miles with a maximum width of 30 yards. The degree of tree damage is consistent with peak winds of approximately 90 MPH, rating it as an EF-1 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale.

The wider storm

A weak tornado, with estimated wind speeds of 90 MPH occurred near Neilton in Grays Harbor County, WA. The damage was limited to trees across Moclips Highway and a nearby forest service road.

Began near Neilton (47.3688, -123.9473).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 916464. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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