2009 Krasnozavodsk tornado

Synopsis

Late on June 3, 2009, a cold-core non-tropical low pressure area located over the Baltic Sea collided with a warm air mass, creating atmospheric instability. The result was a line of severe thunderstorms, also known as a squall line, in the Moscow area. One of the thunderstorms broke off and developed into a supercell thunderstorm about 30 km from Moscow, Russia. The supercell spawned a 150 m wide tornado in Krasnozavodsk. The tornado reached F3 intensity along its path. The tornado was the first intense tornado to impact the Moscow region in nearly 25 years. Upwards of 38 mm of rain fell throughout the impacted regions. This is roughly half the monthly rainfall average.

Impact

The tornado touched down in a forested area and rapidly intensified, snapping trees at F2/T4 strength. Moving in northwestern direction, the tornado crossed over the multi-story home and directly struck a small market, partially sweeping it away. Vehicles were thrown over 100 m at F3 strength, including Gazelle truck, which landed on a SUV car. The tornado them struck a row of multi-story homes on Novaya Street. Roofs and balconies were stripped away and interior walls blown inward. Trees between homes were snapped and debarked. A playground was swept clean with only small pieces left. After sharp northeastern turn, the tornado dissipated. Nobody was killed, but 65 people were injured and 25 required hospitalization. High winds produced by the thunderstorm that spawned the tornado cut power to 40,000 people throughout 250 towns in the area. Electrical failures caused by the tornado sparked fires that destroyed ten flats. Damage from the fires amounted to 170 million RUB (US$5.3 million). In Moscow, winds up to 61 km/h downed 90 trees, damaged 25 advertisement billboards and several homes. Forty-two homes were damaged by the tornado, ranging from roof damage to severe interior damage, 60 vehicles were either thrown or damaged, and 360 trees were uprooted. Damages from the tornado were estimated at 350 million RUB (US$11.3 million).

Aftermath

Following the severe weather, emergency response teams were deployed to the affected regions. Cleanup crews also quickly began to remove debris from roadways and rebuild downed power lines. By June 11, all roads were cleared. By June 14, repairs to the damaged homes were complete as all the roofs were replaced by city officials.

References

References

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