Straight line winds or Tornado?

[bradjones]

Hello everyone just wondering if anyone on here saw the Damage in Pauls Valley OK this past Saturday? 6/7/14 I live here and by golly if some of the damage is not at least a small spin up. Some of the damage is twisted such as tree and roof. Just wondering if anyone else looked at damage or has a radar pic from that storm that happened around 930pm on Saturday night? Thanks

 

[rdale]

Twisted debris isn't any indication of rotation in the storm, it could just mean that the winds were slightly stronger on one side of the tree than the other, or the tree has more weight on one side versus the other. Some things to look for include debris splattered on all sides. I'm not saying you couldn't have had some rotation or eddies in the winds, or an actual tornado, but seeing debris that is twisted is not much of an indication.

 

[MClarkson]

There is little practical difference between strait line wind damage and weak tornado damage. Really the only thing I would look at is the width of the damage swath, if such a thing can be discerned at all at low-end levels. If its small and narrow and isolated I'd assume tornado, if its more widespread I'd assume downburst.