Rare Tornado Hits Vancouver, WA

As mentioned in my previous blog post, while we had a tornado event taking place in the deep south, a RARE tornado hit Vancouver, WA on the same day. Rare not only because it’s January, and in the northwest part of the country, but just rare for this area period. In fact, the last time a major tornado hit the Vancouver area was on April 5th, 1972!

On that day an F2 tornado killed 6 people, injured 300 others, flattened buildings and threw boats on land, causing $3 million in damage. Typically this area may only see one or two weak tornadoes per year, usually in rural areas.

Unlike the first time, there were no reports of injuries Thursday’s tornado that cut a path a quarter mile wide and at least 2 miles long. The National Weather Service has rated this tornado an EF1 on the new Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Written by David on January 15th, 2008 with 2 comments.
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