Port Orchard Tornado Was An EF2, Weather Service Says

PORT ORCHARD, WA - National Weather Service meteorologists have completed a preliminary assessment of the damage caused by a Tuesday tornado in Port Orchard. The twister was rated an EF2 on the enhanced Fujita scale, according to the NWS.

Under that classification, the tornado's winds reached between ‎111 and 135 mph. The weather service estimated Tuesday's tornado reached a top speed of about 130 MPH and carved a path of destruction nearly 1-1/2 miles long.

The tornado broke out at approximately 1:50 p.m. Tuesday, touching down just east of SR 16 near Sedgewick Road. The storm traveled northeast for 1.4 miles, ending after about five minutes near Kitsap Regional Park. At its widest point, the tornado measured about 300 yards.

Although the storm damaged scores of homes and businesses, there were no injuries or deaths. The storm knocked out power in the Port Orchard area, and one home experienced a natural gas leak.

Related: Rare Tornado In Washington Causes 'Catastrophic' Damage: PHOTOS

Tornadoes are relatively rare in Washington, without only about three very weak twisters per year. According to one meteorologist, there is precedent for tornadoes on the Kitsap Peninsula because of the Olympic Mountains.

UW meteorologist Cliff Mass said Tuesday's tornado probably happened when a thunderstorm moving east encountered horizontal wind shear on the east side of the Olympics.

"The air moving into western Washington was modestly unstable and as a result a number of convective/thunderstorm showers were moving in. Nothing exceptional. One of the thunderstorm cells moved into the lee of the Olympics, where some horizontal wind shear existed. Such shear implies inherent rotation. The modest thunderstorm ingested that air and spun up the rotation in its strong updraft. This created the tornado," Mass wrote on his blog.

A relatively strong tornado hit Poulsbo in 1991, Mass said.

Even though Tuesday's tornado was scary, Port Orchard was lucky. Tornadoes in Southern and Midwest states happen all the time and have killed hundreds. A 2011 EF5 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, left hundreds dead, and produced winds strong enough to rip 300-pound concrete blocks off the ground.

Image courtesy Kitsap County Sheriff