Tornado touches down in southwest Washington

03:51 PM PDT on Monday, September 13, 2004

From NWCN Staff Reports

NWCN / Courtesy: Tim Seeman of Ridgefield, Wash. NorthWest Cable News viewer Tim Seeman of Ridgefield, Wash., submitted this photo of the tornado in Clark County.

RIDGEFIELD, Wash. - A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for southwest Washington shortly after a tornado was spotted touching down in Ridgefield, Wash., according to National Weather Service officials.

"Funnel clouds are very rare, and even more rare is for one of these to touch the ground," said NorthWest Cable News forecaster Chris Warren. "However, intial reports is that one of them did touch the ground, and when that happens, it's a tornado."

A National Weather Service official later confirmed that the funnel cloud had touched down, making it technically a tornado. Warren said it was unlikely that another funnel cloud would appear, but not impossible.

A Ridgefield police officer reported that the tornado had actually moved over his car. Several NorthWest Cable News viewers had reported seeing the tornado, some managing to capture the tornado on film as it passed through their neighborhood.

"I just happened to be looking out a north facing window and by golly there was funnel cloud coming down," said Tim Seeman, who submitted photos to NorthWest Cables. "I'm from the midwest and I've seen tornados before. What I saw definitely convinced me that it was a funnel cloud."

The tornado toppled trees and damaged some buildings at the National Wildlife Refuge in Ridgefield, but caused no injuries or any outages.

While Seeman reported moderate weather conditions, breezes and light rain, the National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm warning for central Clark County in southwest Washington through 1:15 p.m. Monday. National Weather Service doppler radar indicated a thunderstorm capable of producing damaging winds in excess of 60 mph.