National Weather Service Raw Text Product

163 
NOUS45 KPSR 032102
PNSPSR

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ
200 PM MST MON MAR 3 2014

...STORM SURVEY FOR MESA TORNADO... 

AT APPROXIMATELY 12:45 PM MST ON MARCH 1ST 2014 A SMALL TORNADO 
TOUCHED DOWN IN MESA NEAR BEVERLY PARK AND THE PALM COVE APARTMENT 
COMPLEX BETWEEN ALMA SCHOOL ROAD AND EXTENSION ROAD AND BETWEEN MAIN 
STREET AND UNIVERSITY AVENUE...ABOUT ONE MILE WEST OF DOWNTOWN MESA.

A STORM SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED ON THE MORNING OF SUNDAY MARCH 2ND BY 
THE WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST. DAMAGE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN 
THAT INCLUDED TILE ROOF DAMAGE...SEVERAL DOWNED TREES...A BLOWN IN 
CAR WINDSHIELD...TWO APARTMENT WINDOWS BLOWN IN...A DOWNED POWER 
LIGHT POLE...AND AN INVERTED HOT TUB. MANY WITNESSES WERE 
INTERVIEWED INCLUDING THOSE WHO DIRECTLY OBSERVED THE FUNNEL CLOUD 
DESCENDING OVER BEVERLY PARK AND THEN MOVING INTO THE APARTMENT 
COMPLEX. AT LEAST FOUR OBSERVERS REPORTED SEEING THE HOT TUB ALOFT 
IN THE CLOUD...SPINNING OVER THE APARTMENT COMPLEX.

A PLOT OF THE DAMAGE LOCATIONS WAS CONSTRUCTED AND UPLOADED TO THE 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX WEB PAGE.

TWO DAMAGE INDICATORS WERE IDENTIFIED FOR THIS EVENT FROM THE 
ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE TOOLKIT. THESE WERE FOR TREE DAMAGE AND ROOF 
DAMAGE. BOTH INDICATED ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS OF 80 TO 85 MPH...WHICH 
CLASSIFIES THIS STORM AS AN EF0 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE.

THE LAST KNOWN TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN THE GREATER PHOENIX AREA 
OCCURRED JANUARY 2005 NEAR LUKE AIR FORCE BASE.

FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING PHOTOS AND RADAR IMAGERY OF THIS 
UNUSUAL EVENT PLEASE REFER TO OUR WEB SITE AT:

  HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/PSR/PNS/2014/MARCH/2014MAR1_SUMMARY.PHP

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX
PUBLIC LINE: (602) 275-0073

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