Tracking Atmospheric River for the West Coast; Space Weather Storming Continues

An atmospheric river will bring threats of gusty to high winds and heavy rainfall to California mainly Thursday into Saturday which may bring areas of flooding and wind damage. Heavy snow will be possible over the Sierra Nevada mountains Thursday into Friday associated with the atmospheric river. Minor to severe geomagnetic storming (space weather) is expected to continue into early Thursday. Read More >

Overview

Two EF1 tornadoes were produced between Weston and Tollgate in the northern Blue mountains of Oregon from a severe thunderstorm that moved roughly east along Oregon route 204. These two tornadoes occurred roughly between 140 PM PDT and 155 PM PDT. The first tornado occurred roughly 8 miles east of Weston and had an estimated travel length between 1.75 and 2.0 miles. A second tornado was determined to have occurred from the same storm roughly three quarters of a mile to the east with a travel length of less than a mile. Both tornadoes were EF1 based on estimated wind speeds and corresponding damage.

Tornado
Photos & Video
Notes on Tornadoes in Umatilla County

Tornadoes:

Tornado #1 8 Miles East of Weston
Umatilla County

Date	05/06/2022
Time (Local)	01:44 - 01:50 PM PDT
EF Rating	EF1
Est. Peak Winds	97 mph
Path Length	1.9 miles
Max Width	175.0 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: Multiple trees were uprooted and there was extensive snapping of large branches. One manufactured home and a residence saw extensive roof damage, including failure and uplifting of a roof that was transported over 300 feet. A farm outbuilding was also heavily damaged where the roof and walls collapsed.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado #2 10 Miles East of Weston
Umatilla County

Date	05/06/2022
Time (Local)	01:52 - 01:55 PM PDT
EF Rating	EF1
Est. Peak Winds	104 mph
Path Length	0.3 miles
Max Width	175.0 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: The tornado resulted in snapped tree trunks, multiple uprooted trees, and extensive snapping of large branches. No damage was observed to have occurred with any property or structures.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Photos & Video

Storm Damage


Winter snow fencing deformed and twisted (Tornado #1) (NWS Employee)	Large tree branches snapped (Tornado #1) (NWS Employee)	Uplift of roof deck and significant roof covering material loss (Tornado #1) (NWS Employee)	Uplift of roof deck and significant roof covering material loss (Tornado #1) (NWS Employee)


Tree uprooted (Tornado #1) (NWS Employee)	Large Farm Outbuilding Roof and Walls Collapsed (Tornado #1) (NWS Employee)	Road blocked with several large tree branches snapped and trees uprooted (Tornado #2) (NWS Employee)	Tree uprooted (Tornado #2) (NWS Employee)

Tornadoes in Umatilla County and the Surrounding Area

Umatilla County OR had only six tornadoes previously based on storm data from SPC and Midwest Regional Climate Center dating back to 1950 (so now 8 counting 5/6)
Last time Umatilla county saw a tornado was back in 2009, which was also an EF1
The last tornado in the NWS Pendleton forecast area was a landspout in 2020 (Benton County)
No tornadoes occurred in the CWA in 2019 or 2018 with the next tornado occurring in 2017
The annual 30 and 10 yr tornado average for the entire WA and OR state is 2

MRCC Umatilla County Tornado Tracks

Tornado Tracks in Umatilla County (note: four tornado tracks are shown and not shown are two tornado touchdown markers; Courtesy of the Midwestern Regional Climate Center)

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NWS Damage Survey for May 6th 2022 Tornado Event