Butrfly's Wonderings

The storm that ripped through the Sacramento area Monday spawned two separate tornadoes, one in North Natomas and the other in West Sacramento, the National Weather Service confirmed.

"From all of our findings so far this morning we believe this was a tornado, probably a high-end F0 tornado," NWS meteorologist Jim Mathews told reporter Dave Marquis during a live interview on News10 Midday.

F0 refers to the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale, which rates tornadoes on a scale of severity ranging from F0 to F5. The F0 designation indicates that the damage from Monday's twister was relatively light.

Mathews said the tornado's wind speed was estimated at 70 miles per hour. The damage path was a mile and a half to two miles long and about 100 to 200 feet across. "The damage path is not continuous, obviously the tornado was on the ground for partial periods of time, took off and then descended again," Mathews said.

Sacramento City Fire Department crews along with the city's Department of Housing and Dangerous Buildings are assessing the damage. The fire department said the primary impact point for the storm was in a commercial area of North Natomas where many buildings sustained roof damage. Shingles were torn from the roof of a Raley's supermarket and sheet metal blew off the roof of a Shell gasoline station. A number of homes in the area sustained damage to roofs and fences. Windows were broken at a shopping center.

At the Terracina Gold apartments this morning crews were cleaning up shingles and metal gutters blown off the buildings. A portable toilet is headed for the trash after Monday's wind tossed it through the air.

The twister also knocked over a big rig and lifted a small car about a foot off the ground in North Natomas.

posted by Lynn  # 3:30 PM