Tornado warning in Kitsap County cancelled, still ‘threat of severe weather’
Nov 9, 2021, 12:09 PM | Updated: Nov 10, 2021, 8:41 am
Extreme weather conditions near Hood Canal on Tuesday. (WSDOT Tacoma, Twitter)
(WSDOT Tacoma, Twitter)
The National Weather Service has officially cancelled a tornado warning it had issued in Kitsap County late Tuesday morning.
Gusty wind, rain brings down trees, cuts power to thousands
The warning went out around 11:30 a.m., covering Silverdale, Tacyton, Seabeck, Suquamish, Brownsville, and Rollingbay.
Outlying areas — including Hood Canal — were also hit with extreme marine conditions and high winds.
Here's a look at the rough seas hitting the bridge after we closed the draw span to traffic. The waves were going onto the bridge deck – that's about 30 feet in the air. No estimated time for reopening. pic.twitter.com/b2GyHjbYMU
— WSDOT Tacoma (@wsdot_tacoma) November 9, 2021
The NWS warns that there is “still the threat of severe weather in the area today,” telling residents to “stay alert.”
While tornados aren’t frequent in Washington state, they’re also not entirely uncommon. Most recently, one touched down near the north end of Battle Ground, Washington, in September of 2021.
Another hit Grays Harbor County in October 2020, downing 10 trees on Moclips highway at mile marker 18.
A tornado ripped through Port Orchard in 2018 as well, damaging several homes with fallen trees and debris.
Battle Ground saw a major tornado in 2015, which damaged 36 homes while producing wind speeds of up to 104 miles an hour along its two-mile path.
The deadliest tornado in state history occurred just 15 miles south of Battle Ground in Vancouver, Washington, in 1972. The Vancouver tornado was blamed for injuring about 300 people, and hospitalizing 54. Property damage was estimated at $6 million, the equivalent of over $35 million in today’s dollars.
According to the Tornado History Project, there have been 118 total tornadoes in Washington state between 1954 and 2016. Most often, they’re rated an EF0 or EF2, on a scale that ranges from “weak” between EF0 and EF1, to “strong” at EF2 and EF3, and going as high as “violent” at EF4 and EF5.
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