EF0 tornado, Desert Center, California, April 21, 2015

1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF0

Date

April 21, 2015

Touchdown

3:50 PM PDT (22:50 UTC)

Lifted

4:05 PM PDT (23:05 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

10.0 miles (16.1 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$5,000

County

Riverside County

Touchdown point

33.800, -115.400

Lift-off point

33.800, -115.400

Record number

1504211650-01

Isolated thunderstorms developed across portions of eastern Riverside county during the afternoon hours on April 21st, and for the most part the storms were not especially strong. However, an isolated storm developed about 6 miles north of Desert Center, and the storm produced a small, rope-like tornado estimated to be EF0 in strength. Numerous photos were taken of this storm by the public, and fortunately the damage that it caused was not substantial. No injuries were reported.

Isolated thunderstorms developed across portions of far southeast California, including eastern Riverside county, during the afternoon hours on April 21st. For the most part the storms were not especially strong, however one thunderstorm located about 6 miles north of Desert Center produced a small, rope-like tornado which traveled nearly 10 miles over mostly open country. The tornado was first reported from an aircraft pilot at about 1447PST and local broadcast media later confirmed the tornado with photographs. Additionally, photos and videos from the public showed the tornado, which did not produce any injuries. The tornado did produce modest damage; several windshields were broken from flying rocks and a number of solar panels were destroyed. The tornado was officially confirmed through an NWS remote storm survey and was classified as an EF0 tornado.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Yuma radar (KYUX), 161 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:46 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in CaliforniaEvery tornado in California since 1950Warnings in force in California nowThe forecast where you are

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.