Extremely Rare Tornado Touches Down in the Northwest

A tornado touched down in the Vancouver and Hazel Dell, Wash. area just before 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Resulting quarter size hailstorms accompanied the winds blistering areas along the Columbia River Gorge.

The resulting line of thunderstorms is moving east though Multnomah County on the Oregon side at about 25 mph, into eastern portions of Multnomah and Hood River Counties, where an advisory is in effect until 2:30 p.m.

The tornado moved through Washington though, central and east Clark County and Skamania County between 12:15 p.m. and 1 p.m. It quickly downgraded to a severe thunderstom, then a general storm. The storm moved from west to east, causing areas of street flooding and wind damage from 78th Street to 99th Street.

About 2,500 homes and businesses have lost power in Clark County. Clark County Public Utilities is responding to wind-related damage. Powerlines are down, traffic signals are mal functioning, roofing has been blown off and trees blown down. But there are no reports of significant property damage or injuries.

Tornadoes are rare for the Pacific Northwest. The last one to hit the area was in April 5, 1972, killing six people. Washington ranks 47th for frequency of tornado sightings, and Oregon 46th, out of the 50 states.

If you have pictures of the storm or storm-related damage, email them to me at thekansagonian@myway.com