Name: Funnel Cloud in Washington, May 27, 2004
Start: 2004-05-27T15:30
End: 2004-05-27T15:30
Location: Washington

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 27, 2:00 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 27, 2:00 PM PST, 1 hour 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
300 PM PDT THU MAY 27 2004

.SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LOW...CURRENTLY NEAR NORTHERN VANCOUVER THIS
AFTERNOON...WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST WASHINGTON FRIDAY
MORNING...BRINGING SHOWERY WEATHER TONIGHT AND A CHANCE OF
THUNDERSTORMS ON FRIDAY. STRONG WEST FLOW ALOFT WILL SEND A COUPLE
MORE WEAK DISTURBANCES ACROSS THE AREA THIS WEEKEND...MAINTAINING A
A CHANCE OF SHOWERS. A PUGET SOUND CONVERGENCE ZONE WILL MAKE
SHOWERS LIKELY FROM EVERETT NORTHWARD. EARLY NEXT WEEK...WESTERLY
FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE ALONG WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

&&

.DISCUSSION...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS THE APPROACHING UPPER LOW
JUST W OF NRN VANCOUVER ISLAND THIS AFTERNOON. MODELS REMAIN
CONSISTENT WITH THE PATH OF THE UPPER LOW...BRINGING THE AXIS ACROSS
NW WA FRIDAY MORNING. MOS POPS LOOK FINE FOR TODAY THROUGH FRIDAY
NIGHT WITH LIKELY OR BETTER FOR THE SHOWERS. HAVE CONTINUED THE
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY AND EXPANDED THEM TO COVER ALL OF
WESTERN WASHINGTON EXCEPT THE COAST...STRAIT AND OLYMPICS. SEVERE
STORM CENTER HAS ALSO INCLUDED GENERAL THUNDERSTORMS OVER WESTERN WA
FOR FRIDAY. MESOETA SOUNDINGS DONT SHOW AN OVERWHELMING AMOUNT OF
CAPE FOR FRIDAY...BUT BOUNDARY LAYER TEMPS MAY BE A BIT TOO COLD.
MODIFYING THE SOUNDING WITH GFS MOS FORECAST TEMPS YIELDS 400-500
J/KG CAPE AND LIS NEAR -2...WHICH IS ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY EXPANDING
THE COVERAGE.

THE FLOW ALOFT COMES AROUND TO W-NW THROUGH THE WEEKEND AFTER THE
UPPER LOW EXITS TO THE EAST FRIDAY NIGHT. GFS CONTINUES TO SHOW A
COUPLE OF WEAK DISTURBANCES CROSSING THE AREA WITH LIGHT QPF.
GFS/MRF MOS POPS ARE AROUND 60-70...BUT THIS LOOKS WEAKER ENOUGH TO
WORD AS SCATTERED SHOWERS...SO HAVE CUT POPS BACK TO AROUND
50...EXCEPT 60 FROM EVERETT UP THROUGH MT VERNON AND OVER THE
MOUNTAINS/COAST. SW ONSHORE FLOW CONTINUES THROUGH THE WEEKEND WITH
A PERSISTANT PUGET SOUND CONVERGENCE ZONE SIGNATURE.

EARLY NEXT WEEK...ZONAL FLOW ALOFT CONTINUES...THOUGH THE GFS SHOWS
MORE OF A DIRTY RIDGE AND WEAK ANTI-CYCLONIC FLOW OVER THE AREA
COMPARED TO THE ECMWF. SHOULD BE DRIER...BUT GIVEN THE PATTERN CANT
PICK OUT ANY TIME PERIOD TO REMOVE THE CHANCE OF RAIN.
SO...BROADBRUSH CONTINUES. TEMPS WILL BE SEASONABLE ALL THIS NEXT
WEEK. KAM

&&

.SEW...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CENTRAL STRAIT AND EAST ENTRANCE.

.KATX...VCP21/CSR21.

&&

The radar

The Seattle radar (KATX), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, King

When: May 27, 3:30 PM PST
Where: King County, 3 mi ESE of Fall City
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 47.491, -121.836 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Washington in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Washington, May 2004

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5394206.