Winter NOT-Wonderland... 15 Minutes TOO CLOSE

On Dec.14th (2 days ago) Brandon, mid-morning (around 11 AM) noticed how dark the sky was. So being him, he took a picture. (Honestly we take of pictures, even though I don't post them I just am lazy, I guess a news years resolution is in order here?)



We thought it was quite odd, and we have had a ton of flood warnings throughtout the Willamette Valley as well as the Portland area, well, there ws another warning...

Seriously Tornado in Oregon?? Really?

Well, no one could have known or have the time to react (especially because we are Marion County not Clackamas County) but, in the small town NOT 15 MINUTES from us a little town called Aumsville, this is what hit!!!!



Luckily, it was in the middle of the day and most were not home so there was no fatalities, the worst was someone getting hit with a 2x4 (ouch)! Click HERE and HERE for pictures, there is quite a lot of damage especially because it is such a small town. So many transformers were hit that a lot of other cities are without power. My grandpa in Lyons (maybe 30 minutes East) had power outages.

From the National Weather Service:

Aumsville EF2 Tornado

•EF2 category winds range from 111 to 135 mph -- Storm survey indicated 110-120 mph most probable in this tornado
•50 Structures Damaged
•30+ Large trees uprooted or snapped
•2 Minor Injuries
•Entire Path Length 5 miles though tornado was not on the ground the entire length (it appeared to skip)
•Path Width approximately 150 yards
Timeline:

•11:46 AM NWS Radar detects a strong cell north of Stayton
•11:52 AM Report of 2 Ft diameter Fir tree down on Highway 22
•11:53 AM Issued Severe Thunderstorm Warning for the storm
•11:59 AM Emergency Personnel report they observed tornado in Aumsville with damage
•12:02 PM Tornado Warning Issued for the storm
Overview

On December 14, a cold low pressure trough over the Pacific Northwest generated showers and thunderstorms over the Portland CWA. A short wave (thought to be a gravity wave generated by a small offshore low that developed in the cold pool behind the main front) rotating through the trough increased convection southeast of Salem, OR shortly before noon. At 11:53 AM, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued based on 88D radar signature combined with a report from the public of some downed trees. At 11:59 PM, the WFO received a report of a tornado touching down from the same convective cell and a Tornado warning was issued at 12:02 PM.

Really makes you think... anything can happen, and not always do they issue the reports BEFORE it happens. Really makes you think about preparedness and making sure EVERYTHING is in order!!