A tornado touched down just outside of Seattle, Washington on Tuesday afternoon, causing significant damage in the Seattle suburb of Port Orchard.
SHOWER OF DEBRIS – More video coming in from a tornado reported southwest of Seattle, WA near the town of Port Orchard. Stay with WeatherNation as we will bring you the latest as it comes in from the @NWSSeattle #wawx pic.twitter.com/nT2Z6D0VIQ
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) December 18, 2018
**BREAKING** New video showing a tornado near Port Orchard, WA, Tuesday afternoon just before 2. The @NWSSeattle is working to determine the extent of the damage and will have a storm survey team go out Wednesday morning. #wawx pic.twitter.com/2PRaaWqTCY
— WeatherNation (@WeatherNation) December 18, 2018
According to the local county (Kitsap County) sheriff, “catastrophic damage” was observed from the rare tornado. Authorities are also urging residents to avoid downed power lines, and local gas companies are checking supply lines for possible damage.
KCSO, Port Orchard PD and several fire agencies have responded to a weather event that has caused catastrophic damage in the Port Orchard area. Most of the damage is contained to the area and neighborhoods east and south of WalMart….more
— Kitsap Sheriff (@KitsapCoSheriff) December 18, 2018
The National Weather Service (NWS) office in Seattle confirmed that a tornado did touch down and caused the damage in Port Orchard.
National Weather Service in Seattle can confirm that a tornado touched down near Port Orchard just before 2pm on December 18. An extensive, official damage survey will be conducted by the NWS Wednesday morning. Until then, the strength of the tornado can't be determined. #WAwx pic.twitter.com/Hs1MVIkzoz
— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) December 19, 2018
As of this posting, no injuries have been reported from the tornado, despite it moving through a relatively densely populated area. Several area roads are closed due to the damage.
Tornadoes are extremely rare in Washington. The most recent significant (EF2 or above) tornado in the state took place more than 30 years ago, back in 1986.
The storm system that produced this tornado is part of a series of strong systems affecting the Pacific Northwest, with heavy rain at the coast and significant snow at higher elevations. More rain and snow will move through the region through mid-to-late week, with several more rounds of heavy rain and mountain snow set to move through the area later this week.
Stay with WeatherNation for the latest on this story.
For WeatherNation: Meteorologist Chris Bianchi