Tornado hits Tacoma Rail

[CHamilton]

This line serves freight customers, but not passengers.

Tornado damages industrial area near Puyallup

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The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado touched down near Puyallup Monday morning, causing damage to buildings and tipping a train off its tracks.

The tornado moved through the industrial area around 7:20 a.m. in Frederickson, about 45 miles south of Seattle, bringing strong gusty winds that blew sections off of roofs and downed power lines.

Boeing spokesperson Doug Alder said the tornado went between two buildings at their Frederickson 777 and 787 manufacturing plant. Several warehouses and factories near the plant sustained damage, but they were still assessing Boeing buildings for damage. Employees were told to shelter in place, but no injuries were reported.

 

[jis]

Are you even supposed to have tornadoes up there?

 

[the_traveler]

Every state in the US has had at least 1 tornado. Not as many as say OK, MO, KS or IA, but nowhere is "safe" from tornados.

 

[jis]

Alaska had tornadoes too?

 

[the_traveler]

I believe so.

 

[CHamilton]

Washington gets the occasional tornado--maybe once every year or two--but they tend to be small (F1) and short-lived. We don't get many thunderstorms, either, but we've seen more than usual in the past few months.

 

[jis]

Yeah I meant to ask whether tornadoes are common in that area, which apparently they are not. We have been getting an unusually high number of tornadoes in the Mid Atlantic the last year or two too it seems.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Wonder if those "Dare Devils" that Chase Storms that show up on TV and U-Tube will want to head up to Washington State to Chase "Rare" Tornadoes! (sort of like Rare Mileage for Rail Fans! ^_^ ) There s a Video on U Tube that shows a Freight getting Hit by a Tornado, Scarey Stuff! I can imagine what it would do to a Superliner or a Talgo Train!!!

 

[chakk]

• That photo has an amazingly similar look to what my cat did to my HO railroad.

 

[Eric S]

Since 1950, all 50 states have been hit by a tornado at least once, per NOAA.

 

[jis]

As I said, while interesting, that was not the information I was looking for. I was wondering how usual or unusual a tornado is in that part of the world. Apparently it is not very usual to find tornadoes in that part of the world, though it does happen occasionally.

 

[CHamilton]

Cliff Mass, the well-known professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington, explained the scarcity of Northwest tornadoes in this blog post.

 

[Eric S]

How common are tornadoes in WA? According to the NOAA, between 1991 and 2010, WA averaged 3 tornadoes each year. OR also average 3 per year.

By comparison, TX averaged 155 per year, KS 96 per year, and FL 66 per year.

 

[SarahZ]

• That photo has an amazingly similar look to what my cat did to my HO railroad.

*like*

:giggle:

 

[AmtrakBlue]

• That photo has an amazingly similar look to what my cat did to my HO railroad.

*like*

:giggle:

Ditto