The majority of the damage was light in nature. State air quality agencies highly recommend that no outdoor burning occur and that residential wood burning devices be limited as much as possible. Rescuers among Ruins Twenty ambulances from Clark County and from Portland converged on the damaged areas, assisted by four Army National Guard and two Air Force Reserve helicopters. Update: the National Weather Service canceled this particular alert. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded roadways.
On average, one to two tornadoes occur in Washington each year. . Vancouver Is Hit No one in Vancouver had any inkling of what was coming. Radar loop of the thunderstorm which spawned the tornado Formed January 10, 2008 12:15 p. Archived from on August 19, 2014.
Flying timbers and debris sailed across the street from the bowling alley into the Waremart Discount Store parking lot, killing a woman and her two young children who were sitting in their parked car in the lot. I screamed for everyone to run to the rear of the building. Muessle said the Aurora airport saw gusts of about 20 miles per hour. By noon, the squall line had reached Portland; shortly afterward forecasters issued a warning for southerly winds gusting up to 50 m. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit. State Route 503 near mile marker 2. To repeat, a tornado is on the ground.
How often do tornadoes hit Washington? The storm then struck the 48,000-square-foot store, collapsing a front wall and killing two people inside the store. It was one of two tornado warnings issued in the Portland metro area as storms rolled through. Once the storm had passed, students from the high school raced to the now-demolished elementary school and helped dig the students out of the wreckage and otherwise help as they could. Archived from on January 15, 2008. Poor air quality may cause issues for people with respiratory problems.
Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Archived from on January 18, 2008. That warning ended at 8:15 p. State Route 503 near mile marker 2. There was some initial confusion over whether or not it was a tornado that had struck, particularly since tornadoes are so rare in southwestern Washington.
The pumpkin farm where it touched down sustained some damage from the storm. I will post some Tornado Warning bulletins and maps as they come in but won't be able to post all of them — severe weather doesn't sleep! If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself from flying debris. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. Huge timbers just floated lazily around in it. It expired about 10 minutes later. Website link is also below in the sidebar.
From Monday on from around Cape Blanco south beyond 5 nm of the coast. There was no time for screaming or panic. Other locations impacted by this tornadic thunderstorm include Sifton, Vancouver Mall, Minnehaha and Brush Prairie. That first warning was at 6:47 p. There is believed to have been no sighting of a funnel cloud or tornado, so Doppler Radar evidence and a survey of the area are what supports the belief a tornado touched down. To repeat, a tornado is on the ground. The high wind speed in the Portland area was about 10 miles per hour.
Debris went over the top of us, all around us, but nothing seemed to touch us. The second warning Sunday was issued at 7:47 p. But the majority of the damage and injuries occurred along a three-mile-long, quarter-mile-wide path between the Columbia River and the Waremart Discount Store. Archived from on May 20, 2011. .
Credit should be given to both HistoryLink. The Severe Weather Outlook helps you prepare for significant weather, such as an upcoming storm, that could result in weather warnings or alerts being issued. Although the southern portion of the roof collapsed at about the same time, an unnamed witness reported that the northern portion of the roof stayed intact long enough to permit patrons to run out the front door of the bowling alley to safety. To use a GeoFact of the Day Blog image for your website or project, write a comment below a post — then I will likely approve your request. Tornadoes have occurred in eastern Washington as well where temperatures in the spring through fall are warmer.
Mobile homes will be damaged or destroyed. Click the icon for more info. Ted Buehner, former meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Seattle, told historian Feliks Banel he remembers the storm that spawned the tornado. Rather weak couplets like this are actually detected often when strong thunderstorms occur and very, very rarely produce tornadoes or damage. The only warning came when the storm reached the McLoughlin Heights neighborhood, about a mile north of the river. Because of our relatively cool climate, thunderstorms are rarely able to grow tall enough and sustain themselves long enough to produce tornadoes.