Tornado in Washington, January 16, 2000

On January 16th a strong occluded front crossed the Columbia Basin. This front developed from a deep low pressure system off the coast of Washington. A line of convective showers along the front brought wind gusts of 46 mph to Walla Walla, which is 25 miles southwest of Dayton. At 9 am, several witnesses reported that a tornado developed just south of US Highway 12 one mile southwest of Dayton. At this location, the second story of a barn was damaged and a mobile home was flipped over. The tornado then followed an intermittent path for around one mile through the south side of Dayton. This path followed the floodplain of the Touchet River, which is just to the north of Rock Hill. Rock Hill is a 700 ft. ridge just to the southwest of Dayton. Several large trees were felled, including a 50 yard wide section of a line of trees along the east side of the river. In the south side of Dayton, an elementary school had several shingles removed and damage to the roof's trim. Finally, considerable damage occurred to a house on Peabody Hill just southeast of Dayton. A large conifer fell and hit the side of a house. A brick chimmey collapsed on this same house as well.