Tornadoes · United States · Nevada · 2018

EF0 tornado, Iron Pt, Nevada, May 11, 2018

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Humboldt County on May 11, 2018, touching down at 11:05 AM PDT and reaching 25 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
May 11, 2018
Touchdown
11:05 AM PDT (18:05 UTC)
Lifted
11:06 AM PDT (18:06 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Humboldt County
Touchdown point
40.840, -117.340
Lift-off point
40.840, -117.340
Record number
1805111205-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A closed upper level low situated across northern Nevada produced isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms on May 11th, 2018. The showers and thunderstorms produced two separate tornadoes. The first tornado occurred south of Interstate 80 near Golconda in an open field. The second tornado touched down north of Golconda off U.S. Highway 95 and crossed a dirt road. No damage was observed.

The spotter saw the funnel cloud touchdown, picking up debris from an open field. The estimated width of the tornado was approximately 25 yards. This occurred in a rural location - no damage.

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 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.

Reno, NV (KREV), 12:00Z

6.1 hours before the tornado, 159 km from the path. May 11, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Reno, NV at 12:00Z on 2018-05-11Temperature 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 -100279, lifted condensation level 1757 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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, Reno, NV at 12:00Z on 2018-05-11The 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 74 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 70 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
-100279 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1757 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Reno, NV (KREV), 00:00Z

5.9 hours after it, 159 km from the path. May 12, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Reno, NV at 00:00Z on 2018-05-12Temperature 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 -22, lifted condensation level 2522 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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, Reno, NV at 00:00Z on 2018-05-12The 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 43 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Surface CAPE
113 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2522 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
9.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Winnemucca Municipal (WMC), 40 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
16:05 UTC350° 10 kt
16:10 UTC350° 14 kt191014.2
16:15 UTC 16 kt
16:20 UTC360° 14 kt
16:30 UTC350° 11 kt
16:35 UTC330° 16 kt
16:40 UTC340° 16 kt
16:45 UTC330° 17 kt
16:55 UTC330° 17 kt1014.2
16:56 UTC5128340° 17 kt231013.9
17:00 UTC340° 16 kt1013.9
17:05 UTC340° 16 kt
17:15 UTC340° 15 kt20
17:20 UTC330° 15 kt
17:25 UTC320° 16 kt1014.2
17:30 UTC340° 15 kt1013.9
17:40 UTC350° 15 kt
17:45 UTC350° 17 kt
17:50 UTC350° 12 kt181013.9
17:55 UTC330° 15 kt
17:56 UTC5325350° 15 kt221013.9
18:05 UTC330° 15 kt
18:10 UTC340° 18 kt
18:15 UTC330° 14 kt
18:20 UTC330° 15 kt
18:30 UTC330° 16 kt1013.5
18:35 UTC350° 13 kt
18:45 UTC330° 14 kt1013.5
18:50 UTC320° 14 kt211013.5
18:55 UTC330° 17 kt1013.5
18:56 UTC5726.1330° 16 kt251013.5
19:00 UTC340° 13 kt1013.5
19:05 UTC360° 16 kt1013.5
19:10 UTC350° 12 kt1013.5
19:15 UTC10° 14 kt1013.2
19:20 UTC350° 19 kt1013.5-RA
19:30 UTC 12 kt1013.5-RA
19:35 UTC 13 kt1013.5-RA
19:40 UTC50° 8 kt1013.2-RA
19:45 UTC60° 8 kt1013.2
19:50 UTC70° 8 kt1013.2-RA
19:55 UTC10° 7 kt-RA
19:56 UTC5230360° 8 kt1013.2-RA
20:00 UTC360° 11 kt1013.2-RA

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

The radar

The Elko radar (KLRX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:04 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
18:05 UTCTORNADO10 Se GolcondaHumboldt, NVSPOTTER SAW THE FUNNEL CLOUD PICKING UP DEBRIS FROM THE GROUND IN AN OPEN FIELD. THE ESTIMATED WIDTH OF THE TORNADO WAS APPROXIMATELY 25 YARDS. THIS OCCURRED IN A RURAL LOCATION - NO DAMAGE.
19:25 UTCTORNADO14 N GolcondaHumboldt, NVSPOTTER SAW TORNADO TOUCH DOWN AND WENT OVER DIRT ROAD. TORNADO WENT BACK UP INTO CLOUD QUICKLY. OCCURRED IN A RURAL LOCATION WITH NO DAMAGE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in NevadaEvery tornado in Nevada since 1950Warnings in force in Nevada nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 11, 2018

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1112:25 PM PDTEF0Humboldt, NV0.015

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.