Tornadoes · United States · Idaho · 2019

EF0 tornado, Riverside, Idaho, May 26, 2019

This EF0 tornado ran 1.8 miles across Bingham County on May 26, 2019, touching down at 1:57 PM MDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $1,000 of property damage.

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
May 26, 2019
Touchdown
1:57 PM MDT (19:57 UTC)
Lifted
2:12 PM MDT (20:12 UTC)
On the ground
15 minutes
Path length
1.8 miles (2.9 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1,000
County
Bingham County
Touchdown point
43.171, -112.450
Lift-off point
43.197, -112.450
Record number
1905261357-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Thunderstorm occurred throughout the day on the 26th with one tornado occurring. Large hail was also reported.

An EF0 tornado touched down 2 miles south of Riverside nd moved north for 1.8 miles crossing the Snake River before dissipating just south os W 100 S (Thomas Road) and between S 275 W and S 670 W just south of Riverside. Damage consisted of a mix of several young and mature cottonwood trees that were wither snapped or uprooted on both private and BLM land . One downed live tree measured a foot in diameter. Another much larger downed tree was found with a diameter close to two feet. Minor damage was reported to a greenhouse. Maximum wind speeds were estimated at 80 to 85 mph with path width of 50-100 yards. It was on the ground for 1.8 miles.

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

The warnings

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 16:27 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.

Salt Lake City I, UT (KSLC), 12:00Z

8.0 hours before the tornado, 271 km from the path. May 26, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Salt Lake City I, UT at 12:00Z on 2019-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 30 joules per kilogram, CIN -238, lifted condensation level 1837 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Salt Lake City I, UT at 12:00Z on 2019-05-26The 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 71 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
30 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-238 J/kg
Surface CAPE
22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1837 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Salt Lake City I, UT (KSLC), 00:00Z

4.0 hours after it, 271 km from the path. May 27, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Salt Lake City I, UT at 00:00Z on 2019-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1 joules per kilogram, CIN -34, lifted condensation level 3129 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Salt Lake City I, UT at 00:00Z on 2019-05-27The 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 36 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 17 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Surface CAPE
129 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3129 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
62 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
9.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Pocatello radar (KSFX), 21 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:57 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
19:15 UTCHAIL 1AberdeenBingham, IDTIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. PHOTO SENT IN ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
19:42 UTCHAIL 0.255 Sse PocatelloBannock, ID
19:57 UTCTORNADO4 Wsw BlackfootBingham, IDNWS STORM SURVEY CONFIRMS AN EF-0 TORNADO. THE DURATION WAS APPROXIMATELY 15 MINUTES WITH A PATH LENGTH OF APPROXIMATELY 1.8 MILES. THE TORNADO FORMED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF S 700 W AND WILLIE RD. ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS
20:00 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDAberdeenBingham, ID
20:22 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S MorelandBingham, IDCORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 1 S MORELAND. TREE LIMB DAMAGE WITH ADDITIONAL DAMAGE TO GREEN HOUSE. RIPPED THE COVER OFF & TWISTED THE POLES AND CONNECTIONS. ONE SIDE FLATTENED. PEA SIZE HAIL ACCOMPANIED.
20:22 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S MorelandBingham, IDTREE LIMB DAMAGE WITH PEA SIZE HAIL.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in IdahoEvery tornado in Idaho since 1950Warnings in force in Idaho nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 26, 2019

37 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 261:15 AM CDTEF0McIntosh, OK0.275
May 261:23 AM CDTEF1Champaign, IL0.9250
May 261:27 AM CDTEF1Champaign, IL0.8250
May 261:35 AM CDTEF1Champaign, IL1.0250
May 261:44 AM CDTEF0Mayes, OK3.2300
May 262:30 AM CDTEF0Washington, AR1.5100
May 262:38 PM MDTUnratedProwers, CO0.320
May 262:54 PM MDTUnratedBent, CO0.320
May 264:36 PM CDTEF0Thomas, KS1.0100$42,000
May 264:10 PM MDTUnratedKiowa, CO0.320
May 264:38 PM MDTEF0Weld, CO0.025
May 264:53 PM MDTEF0Weld, CO0.025
May 264:55 PM MDTEF0Union, NM21.775
May 265:27 PM MDTEF0Weld, CO0.025
May 265:37 PM MDTEF0Adams, CO0.025
May 265:50 PM MDTEF0Union, NM2.650
May 265:58 PM MDTEF0Lincoln, CO0.050
May 266:04 PM MDTEF0Chaves, NM2.450
May 267:21 PM CDTEF1Franklin, NE1.9500$125,000
May 266:25 PM MDTEF0Roosevelt, NM0.850
May 267:25 PM CDTEF0Oldham, TX0.350
May 268:02 PM CDTEF0Hartley, TX2.050
May 268:14 PM CDTEF0Hartley, TX5.275
May 267:20 PM MDTEF2Roosevelt, NM9.5200$2.0 million
May 267:57 PM MDTEF0Roosevelt, NM2.150
May 269:11 PM CDTEF0Bailey, TX5.050$50,000
May 269:22 PM CDTEF0Washington, KS0.150
May 269:56 PM CDTEF2Lamb, TX8.0100$150,000
May 2610:26 PM CDTEF0Castro, TX12.8100$100,000
May 2610:49 PM CDTEF1Gray, KS0.725$60,000
May 2610:51 PM CDTEF1Ford, KS1.925
May 2610:52 PM CDTEF1Ford, KS1.825
May 2611:07 PM CDTEF1Ford, KS3.150
May 2611:14 PM CDTEF0Hodgeman, KS1.725
May 2611:28 PM CDTEF1Hodgeman, KS1.325$60,000
May 2612:00 AM CDTEF1Pratt, KS8.9100
May 2612:25 AM CDTEF0Oldham, TX1.550

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.