EF0 tornado, Arecibo, Puerto Rico, May 2, 2024

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

May 2, 2024

Touchdown

3:58 PM CDT (20:58 UTC)

Lifted

4:07 PM CDT (21:07 UTC)

On the ground

9 minutes

Path length

0.5 miles (0.8 km)

Path width

4 yards (4 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$8,000

County

Not recorded

Touchdown point

18.472, -66.704

Lift-off point

18.471, -66.700

Record number

2405021458-01

On May 2, 2024, a significant weather event unfolded as a waterspout |made landfall, impacting the Cambalache sector within the |Municipality of Arecibo. The inclement weather in this region was |spurred by a mid to upper-level trough shifting from west to east |along Puerto Rico's northern coast. Doppler radar scans revealed |several velocity couplets at an altitude of 6000 feet, indicating |the potential for turbulent weather conditions. As the |waterspout transitioned into a weak tornado, it encountered an |expanse of mangrove trees, resulting in the downing of numerous |small to medium-sized branches along its path. Additionally, the |tornado's winds affected street signs and canopy tents, which were |blown away by the force of the storm.

At approximately 4:58 PM on May 2, 2024, a waterspout initially |formed over the local Atlantic waters and proceeded to track |ESEward, making landfall over Albacoa Beach in Arecibo. As the |waterspout transitioned into a weak tornado, it encountered an |expanse of mangrove trees, resulting in the downing of numerous |small to medium-sized branches along its path. Additionally, the |tornado's winds affected street signs and canopy tents, which were |blown away by the force of the storm.

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 San Juan radar (TJUA), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:58 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 2024 tornado in Puerto RicoEvery tornado in Puerto Rico since 1950Warnings in force in Puerto Rico nowThe forecast where you are

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.