Tornado in Port Orchard, WA

[Returning2USA]

An old friend of mine's parent's house was destroyed in the Port Orchard tornado.

Awful.

The rarity of a tornado, the houses destroyed or damage and the time (Christmas around the corner) is just bad.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by Returning2USA

An old friend of mine's parent's house was destroyed in the Port Orchard tornado.

Awful.

The rarity of a tornado, the houses destroyed or damage and the time (Christmas around the corner) is just bad.

Indeed.

I saw a bunch of news reports about how this was the biggest tornado in the State since 1986. Yet, google fails me on this. Does anyone know where this last big tornado was located? My guess is SW Washington, but I can't seem to find anything online about this.

[happygrrrl]

Look at today’s Seattle Times online. I glanced at it, I believe it was 1962 on the east side of Lake Washington somewhere in northeast Seattle (I’m not that familiar with Seattle neighborhoods). It was supposedly in the area of Bill Gates’ childhood home.

Oh, I just read what you said about 1986, so never mind, the ‘62 was the first one recorded in WA.

I got caught in a tornado as a child at my grandmother’s house, tons of fun, but that was midwest, had no clue that the PNW had tornados.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by happygrrrl

Look at today’s Seattle Times online. I glanced at it, I believe it was 1962 on the east side of Lake Washington somewhere in northeast Seattle (I’m not that familiar with Seattle neighborhoods). It was supposedly in the area of Bill Gates’ childhood home.

Oh, I just read what you said about 1986, so never mind, the ‘62 was the first one recorded in WA.

I got caught in a tornado as a child at my grandmother’s house, tons of fun, but that was midwest, had no clue that the PNW had tornados.

When I was a kid we went to the midwest to visit grandparents almost every year. One year I do remember going into the basement in Michigan, but we survived!

PNW tornadoes are generally short-lived and usually F2 or below. They can occur any month, as witnessed this time, but usually are in the Spring, like much of the country.

Yes, the 1962 tornado caused extensive damage, but no injuries. I think the lesson here is that tornadoes can occur in the Seattle area, but your chance of being injured or killed is still very low.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...hildhood-home/

I am still trying to locate this 1986 twister. Perhaps I have not searched enough, but our great internet can't seem to find it!

[mrgoodwx]

According to the tornado history project, the 1986 tornado (May 13) touched down in Snohomish County near Arlington Heights. The path was said to be only 10 yards wide and 0.3 miles long.

By the way, 1986 was prior to civil engineers being far more involved in helping meteorologists determine the intensity of tornadoes. Perhaps the 1986 tornado was an F-2, although the Port Orchard EF-2 appears to have been a much more significant storm.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by mrgoodwx

According to the tornado history project, the 1986 tornado (May 13) touched down in Snohomish County near Arlington Heights. The path was said to be only 10 yards wide and 0.3 miles long.

By the way, 1986 was prior to civil engineers being far more involved in helping meteorologists determine the intensity of tornadoes. Perhaps the 1986 tornado was an F-2, although the Port Orchard EF-2 appears to have been a much more significant storm.

Thanks for that. I did cross the tornado project but couldn't seem to get past their home page.

And, yeah, the designation of an F-2 in 1986 WA State probably was subject to discussion, and I agree this latest one was much more significant.

At the end of the day, however, nobody can claim "tornadoes never happen in Washington"!