Well, that's not exactly true. In fact, it's not true at all. While the vast majority of twisters do happen east of the Rockies, we typically see a few tornadoes each year in Oregon and Washington. And the biggest one of all hit both states by slamming both Portland and Vancouver, injuring hundreds of people and killing six.

The tornado was classified as an "F3" -- that means it had windspeeds somewhere in the range of 158 to 206 miles per hour. Here's a look back, thanks to the help of reports from the National Weather Service:

The tornado was the most devastating tornado in Oregon's recorded weather history, dating back to 1871. On April 5, 1972 a very turbulent squall line moved northeast across Portland, causing scattered wind damage, broken tree limbs, and even uprooting some trees. Another strong thunderstorm hit Tigard where winds ripped away the roof of a lumber warehouse on highway 99W, its debris damaged five vehicles parked at the gas station next door.

Then a tornado suddenly developed and touched down at the south edge of the Columbia River damaging and slamming together 50 boats that were docked along NE Marine Drive. Witnesses saw water being sucked up into the cloud as the tornado moved half a mile over the river before it made landfall in Vancouver.

The tornado stayed on the ground for a total of nine miles, hitting Vancouver and Brush prairie the hardest. It destroyed a bowling alley and other buildings in Vancouver. The tornado caused five to six million dollars in property damage in Washington alone.

OTHER TORNADOES
For a look at dozens of twisters and when they've hit our area, better check out this link.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/paststorms/tornado.php

I think you'll be surprised by how many tornadoes we've had and some of the damage that's been done. Thanks for reading this blog!

Bruce Sussman

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