‘Short, weak tornado’ causes minor damage near Ilwaco Friday night

A “short, weak tornado” caused some minor damage near Ilwaco on Friday, according to the National Weather Service in Portland, Oregon.

The weather statement released Saturday said the National Weather Service performed a “damage survey” that day of the area, and found evidence that the tornado had indeed occurred and caused some damage to trees, fences, windows, shingles “and other unsecured attachments to structures along the path.”

The report said the tornado began near the intersection of Ortelius Drive and Captain Gray Drive at about 8:04 p.m. Friday just north of the Port of Ilwaco airport. The storm “tracked northeastward across a housing subdivision, and then crossed the Wallacut River before dissipating near the intersection of Chinook Valley Road and U.S. Highway 101 around 8:08 p.m.”

Additionally, a second storm that tracked from the south side of the the City of Long Beach to the southern part of Willapa Bay “also exhibited some weak rotation on radar,” but Weather Service personnel “examined this path, but found no evidence of a tornado or wind damage along this second storm path.”