EF0 tornado, (Geg)Spokane Intl Ar to Yardley, Washington, May 6, 2022

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 6, 2022

Touchdown

8:17 PM PDT (03:17 UTC)

Lifted

8:24 PM PDT (03:24 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

2.1 miles (3.4 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$40,000

County

Spokane County

Touchdown point

47.648, -117.349

Lift-off point

47.655, -117.305

Record number

2205062117-01

11 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OTX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 88 mph.

• Large section of tree broke off and fell to the NNE. Some rot noted in where the tree snapped.
• Woody debris found east of tree damage. First evidence of tornado.
• Large tree fell to the southeast across a fence and into the street. Talked to owner of property where the tree was pointed but no wind damage on their property.
• Multiple trees snapped approximated 30 to 50 ft above ground and fell to the east-southeast. No property damage directly across the street.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

Strong storms developed to the west of Spokane during the early evening hours of 6 May 2022. As they approached the west side of the metropolitan area, the storms became more organized. The strongest cell developed rotation periodically as it moved from the Airway Heights area eastward through Spokane and Spokane Valley. Two distinct areas of damage occurred due to tornadoes as the storm moved through the region.

Tornado followed a due west-to-east path along W. Greenwood Road. The damage indicators along the road mainly consisted of trees that were uprooted or snapped. Several powerline poles were brought down by fallen trees toward the middle of the damage path. No substantial damage was noted to structures along the path. A video that was shared by a resident near N. Kynan Rd. showed a very weak circulation moving due east along W. Greenwood Rd. This video footage confirms the timing and width of the tornado. Residents in the vicinity of Russell Rd. confirmed no further damage beyond this point.

Tornado generated a discontinuous line of damage first observed near the intersection of E. 9th Avenue and S. Cuba St. Video footage confirms a funnel cloud lowered at times and was disorganized as it moved from west to east. A second area of more significant damage was observed along 6th Avenue that included roof damage and many trees uprooted or snapped at the base. The third and longest track of damage began near E. 5th Ave and S. McKinnon Rd and included significant damage to trees and unsecured items along E 4th Avenue. The most noteworthy damage along E. 4th Ave was to a line of travel trailers, vehicles, and boats, several of which were tossed or displaced. Numerous large ponderosa pine trees were uprooted or snapped along E. 4th Avenue before the tornado again lifted. The final isolated area of damage was located along E. 5th Avenue between S. Coleman Rd and S Grand Rd. Security camera footage confirmed brief circulation at the surface along with two downed trees along the southern edge of the track before the tornado lifted for the final time.

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 01:06 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.

Spokane/Felts Field (SFF), 4 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Spokane radar (KOTX), 23 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:17 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 2022 tornado in WashingtonEvery tornado in Washington since 1950Warnings in force in Washington nowThe forecast where you are

13 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.