01:42 PM PDT on Monday, June 7, 2004

By SUSAN WYATT / KING5.com

Courtesy Jon Dobyns Viewer Jon Dobyns shot several images of a funnel cloud in Snohomish County, Wash. on May 27.Click here to enlarge

SEATTLE - Another tornado touched down near Stanwood, north of Seattle, on Saturday afternoon, bringing the official total recorded in Washington this year to seven, and leaving residents scratching their heads and wondering just what's going on with the weather in the state.

The National Weather Service says Washington averages 1.8 tornadoes a year. This year we have already reached the second-highest number in state history. The record of 14 was set in 1997.

Several funnel clouds have also been spotted. A funnel cloud does not touch the ground. Once it does touch the ground it becomes a tornado. A waterspout is a tornado over over a body of water.

Ted Buehner of the National Weather Service in Seattle said there are a number of factors to explain why we're seeing more tornadoes this year.

More people are living in places they didn't live before, and many have video cameras they can pull out to record what they see. Also, people are more aware of weather phenomena.

"In the wake of the movie "Twister," and educational programming on Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel, people are more educated about what they see," said Buehner.

The recent tornadoes in Washington were down and up in less than two minutes and were rated F-0, the weakest of six classifications, with wind speeds of 70 mph to 90 mph and were about 20,000 feet high.

The Northwest just lacks the raw ingredients for big, showy thunderstorms that spawn tornadoes: huge masses of warm, moist air loaded with potential energy, and wind shear, a condition in which the air is moving in one direction at ground level and another at higher altitudes.

In contrast, a thunderstorm in the Midwest might reach up to 60,000 feet and may be a category F-3, with wind speeds reaching 158 mph to 206 mph. A big Midwest storm line might generate thousands of lightning strikes, while a typical Northwest storm lights up the sky just a handful of times.

"We have a much more stable environment because of the Pacific," said KING weathercaster Rebecca Stevenson. "Wind patterns are broken up because of the Olympics and Cascades."

Buehner said there have been tornadoes and funnel clouds in the greater Seattle area.

"In May of 1996 a waterspout was spotted off Alki Point, and a tornado touched down briefly in West Seattle in 1998 or 99," said Buehner.

But Buehner said there is no reason to believe something sinister, such as global warming, is at work here.

"We've just had some spurts of cold, unstable air masses in our region and tornadoes are born of thunderstorms," he said.

Is there any real proof that there have been "more" tornadoes?

"Who's to say they haven't been happening and people just haven't noticed?" said NWCN weathercaster Chris Warren.

"They just haven't been witnessed, recorded or communicated," said Beuhner.

Tornado classifications

Tornadoes are classified by the Wind Speed, Path Width and Path Length. Although the the path width and path length are not widely used today, you may find them in some articles and literature on tornadoes. The National Weather Service scales tornadoes by intensity on a scale of - to 5 on the Fujita-Pearson scale which include:

F-0. Light damage. Wind up to 72 mph. Some damage to chimneys; breaks branches off trees; pushes over shallow-rooted trees; damages sign boards.

F-1. Moderate damage. Wind 73 to 112 mph. The lower limit is the beginning of hurricane wind speed; peels surface off roofs; mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned; moving autos pushed off the roads; attached garages may be destroyed.

F-3. Severe damage. Wind 158 to 206 mph. Roof and some walls torn off well-constructed houses; trains overturned; most trees in forest uprooted.

F-4. Devastating damage. Wind 207 to 260 mph. Well-constructed houses leveled; structures with weak foundations blown off some distance; cars thrown and large missiles generated.

F-5. Incredible damage. Wind above 261 mph. Strong frame houses lifted off foundations and carried considerable distances to disintegrate; automobile sized missiles fly through the air in excess of 100 meters; trees debarked; steel-reinforced concrete structures badly damaged.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.