Small tornado causes damage in Orchards

A tornado with wind speeds estimated between 65 to 85 mph touched down in the Orchards area Friday afternoon, toppling a fence and downing tree branches. No injuries were reported.

The National Weather Service in Portland said the EF0 twister was reported at about 3:15 p.m., but no one reported seeing the funnel, and there was little damage.

“It was weak,” meteorologist Paul Tolleson said.

A fence was damaged in the vicinity of Northeast 99th Street and Northeast 140th Court, and some debris from a nearby yard blew into that yard, he said. Then, on Northeast 105th Avenue north of Northeast 67th Street, a 12-by-12-foot metal shed was lifted up and placed back down. And tree branches about 4 inches in diameter snapped off, Tolleson said.

No other damage in between those locations was reported to the National Weather Service, but Tolleson said they couldn’t rule out if there was additional damage.

Tolleson said the tornado briefly touched down during a strong thunderstorm; the storm likely took about 15 minutes to traverse the stretch of Clark County.

The storm burst dumped less than one 10th of an inch of rain. The National Weather Service recorded 0.88 inches as of 5 p.m. Friday over the last 24-hour period at Vancouver’s Pearson Field.

Vancouver has received 6 inches of rain so far this month, more than double the normal 2.85 inches for March. Tolleson said the persistent wet weather is a residual effect from the winter’s La Niña. “It’s waning, but we’re still feeling the effects of it,” he said.

Rain showers will decrease throughout today. However, the next big rain is expected Sunday, he said.