Tornado touches down in Vancouver
VANCOUVER, Wash. - A rare tornado touched down Thursday in a residential area of Vancouver, downing power lines, uprooting trees, tossing shopping carts into cars and causing moments of fear for residents.
So far, no injuries have been reported but damage was severe in some areas, including a home completely demolished near Vancouver Lake.
Authorities confirmed that the tornado hit at about 12:20 p.m. and was followed by several funnel clouds, which are twisters that remain above ground.
Jerome Nye was in his car and saw the funnel pass directly over him. He said it was about 25-30 feet wide as it came across a field, then passed over traffic.
"I thought 'Wizard of Oz,' here we come," he said.
A severe thunderstorm was later issued for Hood River, Skamania and Multnomah Counties. Residents from Clark County and eastern Multnomah County reported seeing funnel clouds in the area.
KGW meteorologist Dave Salesky says it was likely an F-0 or F-1 tornado, the lowest level possible on the scale with wind speeds of 75-100 miles an hour. This level of tornado typically knocks down trees and power lines, but isn't powerful enough to lift automobiles or mobile homes.
Several witnesses reported seeing shopping carts flying, roofs being ripped off from homes and power lines falling. One semi-truck in Hazel Dell was toppled by the winds and a woman said strong winds almost lifted her car.
Leah Edwards, of Clark County Fire, estimated the weather event caused about four miles worth of damage.
"From here on out, we're continuing to do assessments of damage," she said late in the afternoon.
One Vancouver resident said he saw funnel clouds uproot trees and tear down metal billboards as he drove down the street. Homeowner Paul Robinson said he heard what sounded like road construction as the tornado touched down near his home.
"It sounded like a jet aircraft right outside my house," said Robinson, whose home was undamaged.
About 2,500 customers in Clark County were reportedly without power at some point due to downed power lines.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for Clark and Skamania Counties at about 12:20 p.m. and then canceled them less than an hour later. NWS meteorologists said they had detected the tornado but couldn't clearly estimate its wind speed.
"We saw the tornado on the radar ... and issued a tornado warning," said Steve Todd, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Portland. "About the time we were issuing it, we got a report over there from the emergency management folks that they had gotten a touchdown and some damage."
Todd said the region of southwest Washington and northwest Oregon sees only one or two tornadoes a year, most often in sparsely populated areas.
"We do see more of actually what we call funnel clouds," he said. "Those are the same type of phenomenon only they don't touch down. As soon as they touch down a funnel cloud changes from a funnel cloud to a tornado."
The last time a tornado hit the Vancouver area was back in April 5th, 1972. That tornado was more severe, a level F-2. It flattened buildings, threw boats onto land, and sent massive amounts of debris flying.
An F-2 storm has winds up to 157 miles an hour.
Photo source: http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/01/photo_tornado_blows_over_truck.html
News source: http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_011007WAB_tornado_vancouver_LJ.c5fd76b.html