WTF--Tornado in Washington--gets me!!

[madmmac]

I have never heard or seen of a tornado in Western Washington. A waterspout every so often, but not a tornado. That was until last Sunday when all he11 broke loose at my house. Trees were tossing around like blades of grass, being uprooted and snapping off like toothpicks 50 feet off the ground. I am standing looking out at my trees in my backyard flying around and wondering if the windows were going to blow out of the house.

The sound was incredible and there was all kinds of things flying in the air. Thankfully it was gone in about 30 seconds. I lost 20+ large trees, about 400 feet of fence, a loafing shed, but no damage to the house or any of the family...thank goodness.

I have been on my chainsaw for 6 straight days. My choker, chainsaw and tractor are my new best friends. My back hates me.





















I have some massive burn piles building up. Yer gonna need a 50 foot long stick to cook a hot dog on em...heh...heh...heh

[bivenator]

Quite a bit of damage. Glad you and the family are ok.

[masraum]

Wow, congrats on making it through so well (considering how it could have gone).

That's a heck of a yard you've got there!

[GH85Carrera]

My understanding is that every county in every state in the lower 48 and many parts of Alaska & Canada have had at least one tornado. For the folks like me that live in tornado alley it is no big deal. We get lots of them every year. The TV stations all compete to see who can tell us where they are.

I sat in my living room and watched the coverage of the biggest baddest tornado ever. From 4:00 PM to bedtime that was all the was on. Over 300 MPH winds devastated some areas. We never lost electricity. 99% of the metro area had no damage at all.

The good news is you were not hurt. The trees will grow back and the damage will be erased.

[porsche4life]

Ya that may be shocker there but no offense that was a baby. We have had straightline winds do more damage than that.

[pwd72s]

Well, looks like it'll be quite some time before you need any firwood. Damn, I do NOT envy you the clean-up labor. Good that you have the right stuff to do it with.

[Looking_for_911]

In the heart of tornado season in Alabama is it not uncommon for three, four, five, maybe six or seven of the bast$%#@ to roar through in a span of a couple hours.
I was sent into the heart of the tornado belt one night on an assignment and we had four come over within 20-minutes with two touch downs. I was inside a tiny volunteer fire department when one hit us.
I hate those things! We get them every year, and they can come at any time of the year, spring, winter, fall, summer... they don't care. And I just happen to live in a geographically perfect "alley" for them to roar through. I know, I need to move!

And, one of the strongest ever recorded here - a high F5 - killed 11-people I knew in my neighborhood. Again, I hate those Bast#$%#!!!

Happy to know you're ok!

[stomachmonkey]

Freaky things those tornados.

Couple of months back had one form right in front of my car and pass right over me.

Little one, only 10-15 feet wide but it did move the car and I did nearly crap myself.

No flying cows though, that was disappointing.

[Looking_for_911]

The only "good" thing about the tornados you guys in places like Texas and Kansas and maybe Oklahoma have is that your landscape is so flat you can see 'em coming from a long ways away. Here they like to hide in clouds, shrouded in rain, then slap down and spin cows, houses, old ladies and crying children into the air and before you can crap, they're gone.
Y'all also get those "pretty" tall funnels. We hardly ever see them because of the rain shrouds.

[James Brown]

No way that was the first if it was a tornado, can't beleave that the world is that screwed up to make such a windy thing in my beloved Washington!!

[sammyg2]

Uh oh, now rwebb is gonna say people shouldn't build houses in Washington

[GH85Carrera]

You know you live in Oklahoma when the tornado sirens start up and you and all the neighbors go outside to look at the cool thunder-storm clouds. First we turn on the TV and can watch all the local stations go to continuous coverage of the storms. The radar will pinpoint the circulation and direction. No commercials, nothing but storm coverage. My favorite TV station for coverage has over 10 meteorologists on staff. That is not just some bimbo reading the weather but a person with a degree in weather. Each TV station has their own weather radar. It is pretty amazing.

[Looking_for_911]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

You know you live in Oklahoma when the tornado sirens start up and you and all the neighbors go outside to look at the cool thunder-storm clouds. First we turn on the TV and can watch all the local stations go to continuous coverage of the storms. The radar will pinpoint the circulation and direction. No commercials, nothing but storm coverage. My favorite TV station for coverage has over 10 meteorologists on staff. That is not just some bimbo reading the weather but a person with a degree in weather. Each TV station has their own weather radar. It is pretty amazing.

All of our stations are meteorologists staffed, and they go biiizzerk! when the threat of a tornado comes up... that F5 we had really changed the way they do their coverage now. If a T-storm gets heavy in their viewing area, which is most of the state, they go to exclusive coverage and talk on and on and on..... and the stations have super-duper weather Hummers with all manner of radar and stuff that go out in the middle of it.... and us lowly newspaper people, well, we slither around and get blown about in our cars praying we don't become news ourselves!
But I guess it's better than not having coverage at all!

[GH85Carrera]

Yep every storm chaser they have on staff is a real meteorologist. The weather radar you watch was developed in Norman Oklahoma. Every new version starts in Oklahoma at the National Severe Storms Laboratory. Our TV stations get the first versions.

http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/edu/

[dhoward]

Glad you're ok.
Is a 'loafing shed' where you go to goof off?

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by dhoward

Glad you're ok.
Is a 'loafing shed' where you go to goof off?

+ 1! WTF? you need a special shed? Never heard the term in my life!

[madmmac]

A loafing shed is just a place for horses to to get out of the weather and for feeding besides using the barn. They are open on 3 sides with a roof on the top.

Cleanup is about 60% done at this point. Have not lit off any of the piles yet. I'm going to see if the County will come and grind them up since they do everything for everyone else it seems like. I know they put a ban on large burn piles right after I did my clearing on the back side of my property last year. So I hope they will provide the grinding....I really doubt it though.

We get 100+ mph winds out here where I live every few years due to the geography through the mountains along the Chinook/Cayuse Pass canyons in the Cascades.

It happens when we get a large high pressure system in Eastern Washington with a low pressure system in Western Washington. The winds blow out of the East. They normally blow out of the West/Southwest. 100+ mph winds here, 10 miles further to the West, no wind at all.