Storm sprints through area

Marc Jones walks back to his house after getting a closer look at damage done to his truck by a downed tree on 39th Street near Kauffman Avenue late Thursday afternoon. (Zachary Kaufman/The Columbian)

Donna Willis of Vancouver was driving on Evergreen Blvd. near the Grant House on Officer’s Row when a tree limb fell on her car Thursday. She was not injured and was able to go home with family. (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

This tree limb fell and hit a car near the Grant House on Officer’s Row during Thursday’storm. (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

Portia Koren and Ryan Morang of Vancouver watch a thunderstorm move north over the Columbia River near the Interstate 5 Bridge. (Steven Lane/The Columbian)

A quick-strike thunderstorm swept across much of Oregon's Willamette Valley before landing with a wet thump in Clark County late this afternoon.

It scattered tree limbs and cut power to thousands Southwest Washington residents.

Clark Public Utilities reported that power had blinked out to about 5,800 residents in Hockinson, Amboy, Ridgefield and central Vancouver, including the Westfield Vancouver mall. East of Woodland, Cowlitz PUD was working to restore power to 840 customers in Ariel and along the Lewis River Highway.

As of 7:15 p.m., Clark PUD said crews were still working to restore power to about 1,700 customers in Ridgefield, La Center, Woodland, Battle Ground and Camas.

The storm had petered out by the time it hit Clark County, after forecasters raised concern about the storm spawning tornadoes in the mid-Willamette Valley earlier in the day.

A thunderstorm watch will remain in effect through 9 p.m. for northwest Oregon.

"We still have a couple of cells off to our southeast that could possibly clip part of Clark County, but the main strong storms, we believe, are done," Andy Bryant, with the National Weather Service in Portland, said shortly after 6 p.m.

A woman narrowly escaped injury on Officers Row in Vancouver when a tree crushed the roof and shattered the back window of a Chevrolet Cavalier she was driving near the Grant House. She was checked by paramedics and went home with relatives; her ruined car remained at the scene.

About 5:15 p.m., part of a tree hit the side of Friendship Depot Preschool, 7207 N.E. Hazel Dell Ave., where 3- and 4-year-olds were present. No one was injured "They heard a really big boom and it scared them," said employee Sharon Toliver, 20.

Toliver put the children in a bathroom, for their protection, said owner Sharie Heikkila.

"She did an awesome job. I'm really proud of her."

That same area was raked by a tornado that ripped west-to-east across Clark County's mid-section in January 2008.

Thursday afternoon's blow forced a quick change in Skyview High School's concert plans. The school had planned to make its final concert of the year an outdoor event, in Esther Short Park. But the performance was switched to the Skyview auditorium about two hours before the concert's scheduled 7 p.m. start.

By 6 p.m., administrators called off the concert.

Green Mountain School's eighth-grade graduation ceremony was canceled due to downed power lines.

A 30-foot birch tree came down in the storm at the home of Leonard Bauhs, 5210 N.W. Cherry St. in northwest Vancouver.

"The roots came, too. It's leaning against the house," Bauhs said.

The damage occurred even though the storm was weakening by the time it arrived in Clark County.

The storm blew in with gusty winds measured at 26 mph at Pearson Field. The temperature dropped from 78 degrees at 4:53 p.m. to 68 degrees 40 minutes later. After the first wave had passed by 7 p.m., .09 inch of rain had fallen at Pearson.

In the Corvallis area at mid-afternoon, spotters reported a 71 mph gust with hail ranging from pea size up to an inch in diameter. Thunderstorms were forming between the coast eastward beyond the Cascade range in a line moving northwest, Portland meteorologist Wanda Likens said.

Funnel clouds were reportedly spotted off the coast at Lincoln City and in the southern Willamette Valley. Rainfall totalled as much as an inch within 15 minutes in some areas, said the weather service's Andy Bryant.

"It's unusual to see an organized thunderstorm like this," Bryant said.