Union County tornado rated an EF 0

National Weather Service officials confirmed that a weak tornado touched down in Union County south of Monroe on Monday.

The tornado was an EF 0, the lowest on the rating scale the weather service uses. It had maximum speeds of between 80 mph and 85 mph and traveled for about eight-tenths of a mile, according to the weather service.

“The tornado initially touched down at 4:58 p.m. near Jug Broome Road and was on the ground for approximately three minutes before lifting along East Sandy Ridge Road,” the weather service said in a public information statement.

Two weather service officials – Tony Sturey, acting meteorologist-in-charge of the Greer, S.C. office, and NWS science officer Bill Martin – headed to Union County Tuesday to inspect damage from the tornado.

Emergency officials reported a number of trees blown down, along with damage to a shed and vehicles.

No tornado warnings were issued because “there wasn’t much on the radar” to indicate a tornado would touch down, said Jeff Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS in Greer.

The tornado was “very brief” and had a weak rotation, Taylor said.

If the weather service issued a tornado warning with the type of system that passed through the area Monday evening, “there would be a lot of false alarms,” Taylor said.

“EF” stands for “Enhanced Fujita.” The EF scale rates the strength of tornadoes in the United States and Canada based on the damage they cause, from 0 to 5.

The most recent tornado to hit the Charlotte metro area came on May 15, 2014, according to NWS Meteorologist Harry Gerapetritis. He described it as a “very short-lived, very weak” EF 0 tornado that struck Steele Creek.

“Most of the ones we’ve had have been very weak,” Gerapetritis said.

The most intense tornado to strike the Charlotte area in recent years came on March 3, 2012, when an EF 2 touched down on the east side of the city and stretched into the Harrisburg area, Gerapetritis said.

By comparison, tornadoes that destroy homes and kill people are typically of EF 3 and EF 4 intensity, he said.

Before Monday, the most recent tornadoes to strike Union County were two in April and September 2011, both EF 0, Gerapetritis said.

This story was originally published December 29, 2015 at 11:05 AM with the headline "Union County tornado rated an EF 0."