Tornadoes · United States · Oregon · 2023

EF0 tornado, Harrisburg, Oregon, June 18, 2023

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Linn County on June 18, 2023, touching down at 1:30 PM PDT and reaching 150 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 18, 2023
Touchdown
1:30 PM PDT (20:30 UTC)
Lifted
1:32 PM PDT (20:32 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
150 yards (137 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Linn County
Touchdown point
44.300, -123.067
Lift-off point
44.303, -123.058
Record number
2306181430-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An EF0 tornado touched down east of Harrisburg, OR. No damages or injury reported.

A brief, weak tornado touched down about 5 miles east of Harrisburg, OR, and moved east-northeast across I-5 before dissipating. No damage was reported from this tornado.

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.

Salem/Mcnary, OR (KSLE), 12:00Z

8.5 hours before the tornado, 69 km from the path. June 18, 2023.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Salem/Mcnary, OR at 12:00Z on 2023-06-18Temperature 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 -93781, lifted condensation level 1041 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Salem/Mcnary, OR at 12:00Z on 2023-06-18The 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 32 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 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
-93781 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1041 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Salem/Mcnary, OR (KSLE), 00:00Z

3.5 hours after it, 69 km from the path. June 19, 2023.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Salem/Mcnary, OR at 00:00Z on 2023-06-19Temperature 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 -38, lifted condensation level 1052 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, Salem/Mcnary, OR at 00:00Z on 2023-06-19The 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 2 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 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
-38 J/kg
Surface CAPE
181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1052 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Eugene/Mahlon Sweet (EUG), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:30 UTC240° 9 kt1014.6-RA
18:40 UTC250° 7 kt1014.6
18:45 UTC210° 5 kt1014.2
18:50 UTC240° 10 kt1014.2
18:54 UTC5948250° 10 kt1014.2
18:55 UTC260° 9 kt1014.2
19:00 UTC250° 7 kt1014.2
19:05 UTC270° 9 kt1014.2-RA
19:10 UTC280° 11 kt1014.2-RA
19:15 UTC270° 10 kt1014.2
19:20 UTC280° 9 kt1014.2
19:30 UTC270° 10 kt1014.2
19:35 UTC 1014.2
19:40 UTC230° 9 kt1014.2
19:45 UTC240° 9 kt1014.2
19:54 UTC6246280° 9 kt1013.9
19:55 UTC270° 9 kt1013.9
20:00 UTC280° 9 kt1013.9
20:05 UTC260° 11 kt1013.9
20:10 UTC250° 13 kt1013.9
20:15 UTC 1013.9
20:20 UTC270° 13 kt1013.9
20:25 UTC270° 14 kt191013.9
20:30 UTC 1013.9
20:35 UTC280° 16 kt1013.9
20:40 UTC270° 14 kt1013.9
20:45 UTC250° 14 kt1013.9
20:50 UTC260° 13 kt1013.9
20:54 UTC6444250° 15 kt181013.9
20:55 UTC 14 kt1013.9
21:00 UTC270° 14 kt1013.9
21:05 UTC280° 14 kt1013.9
21:10 UTC 1013.9
21:15 UTC280° 11 kt1013.9
21:20 UTC250° 11 kt1013.9
21:25 UTC280° 11 kt1013.9
21:30 UTC250° 10 kt1013.9
21:35 UTC290° 13 kt1013.9
21:40 UTC270° 11 kt1013.5
21:45 UTC260° 11 kt1013.5
21:54 UTC6242270° 10 kt1013.5
21:55 UTC260° 10 kt1013.5
22:00 UTC 1013.5
22:05 UTC280° 10 kt1013.5
22:10 UTC260° 10 kt1013.5
22:15 UTC260° 13 kt1013.5
22:20 UTC250° 14 kt1013.5
22:25 UTC 211013.5

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

The radar

The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 157 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:27 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
19:30 UTCTORNADO5 E HarrisburgLinn, ORCorrects previous tornado report from 5 E Harrisburg. Pilot reported a tornado touched down about 1 mile north of Daniels Field near I-5. Phone call to employee at Olsen Run Winery yielded a cell phone video of the torna
19:30 UTCTORNADO5 E HarrisburgLinn, ORPilot reported a tornado touched down about 1 mile north of Daniels Field near I-5. Phone call to employee at Olsen Run Winery yielded a cell phone video of the tornado about 50-100 yards north of Diamond Hill Road, trac

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in OregonEvery tornado in Oregon since 1950Warnings in force in Oregon nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 18, 2023

20 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 181:09 AM CDTEF1Mayes, OK4.1300
June 181:12 AM CDTEF2Logan, AR5.4700
June 182:12 AM CDTEF0Perry, AR0.260
June 1811:10 AM EDTEF0Lee, FL0.010$5,000
June 1810:54 AM CDTEF1Clarke, MS2.0250$75,000
June 184:57 PM CDTEF1Randolph, AR5.0300
June 187:38 PM CDTEF0Madison, MS1.6250$15,000
June 187:57 PM CDTEF1Madison, MS1.4300$500,000
June 188:04 PM CDTEF1Scott, MS6.5350$10,000
June 188:15 PM CDTEF2Union, AR10.31,320$2.0 million
June 188:29 PM CDTEF1Rankin, MS2.0300$25,000
June 188:58 PM CDTEF0Rankin, MS1.050$1,000
June 189:05 PM CDTEF2Rankin, MS6.1400$200,000
June 189:21 PM CDTEF0Rankin, MS0.9100$2,000
June 189:25 PM CDTEF1Rankin, MS5.5450$15,000
June 1810:23 PM CDTEF0Smith, MS0.5100$2,000
June 1810:27 PM CDTEF0Smith, MS2.6100$5,000
June 1810:52 PM CDTEF1Smith, MS2.5400$75,000
June 1810:59 PM CDTEF1Smith, MS4.5800$25,000
June 1811:29 PM CDTEF3Jasper, MS6.51,350125$5.0 million

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.