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EF0 tornado in Colfax County, New Mexico

Tornado May 28, 2021 · Colfax County, New Mexico

EF0
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 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 severe thunderstorm near Maxwell produced twin tornadoes. One tornado was a mesocyclonic tornado while the second tornado was a landspout. No damage was reported.

The wider storm

A backdoor cold front tracked south and west through New Mexico early on May 28, 2021, which reinforced low-level moisture across much of eastern and central portions of the state. Upslope flow aided in the early onset of afternoon thunderstorms across the higher terrain, and these thunderstorms then tracked east to southeast onto the plains. With plenty of instability and shear, these storms quickly intensified through the afternoon and evening hours. Large hail was the main hazard with numerous reports of hail ranging from 2 to 3 inches. A variety of weather hazards particularly impacted southeast New Mexico with large hail and severe winds resulting in property damage and minor street flooding in Portales and Clovis disrupting traffic. A couple tornadoes and landspouts were also reported, but did not do any damage.

Began near Maxwell (36.4798, -104.5710).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 952204. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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