Tornadoes · United States · Idaho · 2007

EF0 tornado, Orofino, Idaho, June 29, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Clearwater County on June 29, 2007, touching down at 6:49 PM PDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 29, 2007
Touchdown
6:49 PM PDT (01:49 UTC)
Lifted
7:00 PM PDT (02:00 UTC)
On the ground
11 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Clearwater County
Touchdown point
46.480, -115.935
Lift-off point
46.480, -115.935
Record number
0706291949-01

What the Weather Service recorded

On June 29, a strong, negatively tilted shortwave trough moved to the northeast across the region. An intense mid level jet streak moved around the base of the trough and through north central Idaho during the early evening hours. An intense, tornadic storm moved across the area producing widespread damage.

Weather spotter 15 miles east of Orofino reported a brief tornado touchdown with nickel sized hail. No significant damage was observed.

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

The warnings

26 minutes of warning. NWS MSO issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:23 UTC, 26 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:07 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
01:03 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSO
01:23 UTC02:07 UTCTornado WarningMSO
02:10 UTC03:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMSO

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:59 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

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.

Spokane, WA (KOTX), 00:00Z

1.8 hours before the tornado, 140 km from the path. June 30, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Spokane, WA at 00:00Z on 2007-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -53014, lifted condensation level 972 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Spokane, WA at 00:00Z on 2007-06-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -91 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53014 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
972 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-50 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Spokane, WA (KOTX), 12:00Z

10.2 hours after it, 140 km from the path. June 30, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 2007-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -97816, lifted condensation level 1564 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Spokane, WA at 12:00Z on 2007-06-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-97816 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1564 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Elk City (RAMOS) (P69), 45 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:52 UTC87570° 0 kt1010.5
00:52 UTC80570° 0 kt1010.8
01:52 UTC7555 3 kt1013.9
02:52 UTC70530° 0 kt1016.9

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Missoula radar (KMSX), 161 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:51 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
00:55 UTCHAIL 0.75Ssw OrofinoClearwater, IDPENNY SIZED HAIL OBSERVED.
00:55 UTCHAIL 1.75WinchesterLewis, ID
01:00 UTCHAIL 0.88OrofinoClearwater, IDTRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED NICKEL SIZED HAIL.
01:03 UTCHAIL 1.75ReubensNez Perce, ID
01:20 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDOrofinoClearwater, IDEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SPOTTED A FUNNEL CLOUD AND ALSO OBSERVED STRONG THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH.
01:21 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDOrofinoClearwater, IDEMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SPOTTED A FUNNEL CLOUD AND ALSO OBSERVED STRONG THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH.
01:21 UTCHAIL 0.75Ssw OrofinoClearwater, IDPENNY SIZED HAIL OBSERVED.
01:21 UTCHAIL 0.88OrofinoClearwater, IDTRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED NICKEL SIZED HAIL.
01:30 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD10 E OrofinoClearwater, IDTRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED ROTATING THUNDERSTORM WITH 0.75 INCH HAIL.
01:30 UTCHAIL 0.7511 E OrofinoClearwater, ID0.75 INCH HAIL WITH NUMEROUS LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN FROM THUNDERSTORM WINDS.
01:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG15 Ene OrofinoClearwater, IDSEVERAL LARGE TREE BLOW DOWNS REPORTED IN THE CLEARWATER FOREST ON THE NORTH FORK RANGER DISTRICT.
01:46 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDCardiffClearwater, IDFUNNEL CLOUD SPOTTED OVER CARDIFF REPORTED BY MEDIA.
01:46 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG4 Ene OrofinoClearwater, IDCLEARWATER COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER OBSERVED NUMEROUS TREES INTERMITTANTLY BLOWN DOWN BETWEEN MILEPOSTS 13 AND 19 ON GRANGEMONT ROAD. ALL TREES WERE FACING SE SUGGESTING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.
01:49 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD15 E OrofinoClearwater, IDROTATING THUNDERSTORM WITH FUNNEL CLOUD OBSERVED WITH NICKEL SIZED HAIL.
01:49 UTCHAIL 1.75CardiffClearwater, IDWEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL NEAR CARDIFF.
01:49 UTCTORNADO 015 E OrofinoClearwater, IDTORNADO OBSERVED ON THE GROUND BY WEATHER SPOTTER. NO SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OBSERVED.
02:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGOrofinoClearwater, IDTRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ACROSS HIGHWAY 11 AND ACROSS GRANGEMONT ROAD...ALSO TREES DOWN ON POWER LINES. POSSIBLE TORNADO DAMAGE.
02:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG30 E HeadquartersClearwater, IDSEVERAL LARGE TREE BLOW DOWNS REPORTED IN THE CLEARWATER FOREST ON THE NORTH FORK RANGER DISTRICT.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in IdahoEvery tornado in Idaho since 1950Warnings in force in Idaho nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 29, 2007

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 294:10 PM MDTEF0Custer, CO1.075

What this means

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.

Sources

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