EF0 tornado, Creston, Washington, June 6, 2009

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

June 6, 2009

Touchdown

2:50 PM PDT (21:50 UTC)

Lifted

3:15 PM PDT (22:15 UTC)

On the ground

25 minutes

Path length

2.4 miles (3.9 km)

Path width

20 yards (18 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Lincoln County

Touchdown point

47.726, -118.576

Lift-off point

47.745, -118.619

Record number

0906061550-01

The combination of an unstable atmosphere and converging wind boundaries over Lincoln County spawned four tornadoes, as well as large hail and flash flooding. This activity spread into northern Whitman County as well. The tornadoes were observed in a 25 minute period between Wilbur and Creston near Highway 2. All four tornadoes were non-supercell tornadoes and rated EF0. All four tornadoes remained over wheat fields and thus resulted in no property damage. Meanwhile, a severe thunderstorm produced quarter sized hail three miles west-southwest of Sprague. Heavy rain also fell with the storms over Lincoln and northern Whitman County. On Highway 23, about five miles northwest of Sprague, water covered portions of the highway between mile posts 48 and 53. In northern Whitman County, mud and debris washed onto roads near Ewen, Colfax, and St. John.

An EF0 tornado was observed two miles south of Highway 2 between Creston and Wilbur. This was one of four tornadoes that occurred within a 25 minute period. This tornado tracked west-northwest and stayed just south of Ramsey Road.

An EF0 tornado formed two miles south of Highway 2 between Creston and Wilbur, then tracked northwest before dissipating less than a mile from Highway 2. This tornado was one of four tornadoes observed in a 25 minute period in the area.

An EF0 tornado formed two miles south of Highway 2 between Wilbur and Creston. This tornado tracked west before dissipating. This was one of four tornadoes that occurred within a 25 minute period in the area.

An EF0 tornado formed two miles south of Highway 2 between Creston and Wilbur. This tornado tracked to the west-southwest before dissipating. This was one of four tornadoes that occurred within a 25 minute period.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:06 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 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.

The Spokane radar (KOTX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:47 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 2009 tornado in WashingtonEvery tornado in Washington since 1950Warnings in force in Washington nowThe forecast where you are

3 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.