INSANE EF2 Tornado in Port Townsend

Sometimes things happen that rejuvenate your hobbies. Things like what happened on Tuesday remind me of why I love weather so goddamn much.


In the early afternoon of Tuesday, a strong tornado touched down in the southern outskirts of Port Townsend. The damage caused by the tornado was uncharacteristic for the Puget Sound region, especially with the mild shear and shallow convection that followed the front.

I was blown away when I saw the storm on radar. Without even looking, I could tell the presence of rotation within the cell based on the hook echo-esque structure.

You heard me right.
No words...
Ears perked, I tapped the HELL out of the velocity mode, nearly cracking my phone screen. My jaw nearly hit the floor. There was like a 90% chance of a tornado being in that thing. Surreal.
CLEAR rotation. Something out of Kansas.
The damage, as mentioned, far outdid the previous tornado that brushed the region. That one was a wimpy EF0 that harassed a trailer park with 70mph winds for thirty seconds. On par with our worst wind storms; nothing the region hasn't seen before.
I would have willingly stood in the middle of that for fun. (Okay, maybe not...)
But the one on Tuesday? No, that was far worse. This didn't just rustle some leaves and down a large branch or two. This endangered the lives of more than a hundred people and caused some millions of dollars in damage, ruining the Christmases of many homeowners. Not with broken roof tiles and shingles, mind you, but with entire first floors shredded off their foundations and carried a MILE into the sky. It's a miracle only minor injuries were reported.

Stay safe out there y'all.

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