Tornadoes · United States · Washington · 2008
EF1 tornado, Hazel Dell to Hockinson, Washington, January 10, 2008
From Hazel Dell to Hockinson, this EF1 tornado ran 10.1 miles across Clark County on January 10, 2008, touching down at 12:15 PM PST and reaching 440 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $525,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The record
- Rating
- EF1
- Date
- January 10, 2008
- Touchdown
- 12:15 PM PST (20:15 UTC)
- Lifted
- 12:40 PM PST (20:40 UTC)
- On the ground
- 25 minutes
- Path length
- 10.1 miles (16.3 km)
- Path width
- 440 yards (402 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $525,000
- County
- Clark County
- Touchdown point
- 45.679, -122.692
- Lift-off point
- 45.734, -122.499
- Record number
- 0801101415-01
What the Weather Service recorded
In the wake of a rapidly advancing cold front, a severe thunderstorm moved through Clark county in southwest Washington and spawned a tornado. The tornado touched down near Vancouver Lake, moved east into Hazel Dell, then continued eastward to Hockinson while experiencing multiple touchdowns.
Tornado had estimated wind speeds of 90 to 110 mph. Damage reports along the path of the tornado include: 200+ trees down, most between 12 to 24 inches in diameter, and approximately 6 trees greater than 36 inches; 30 to 40 homes damaged, with primarily roof damage; 19 power poles were snapped off; 3 lightly constructed structures were destroyed; a parked semi-trailer was tipped over, and several dozen sculling boats were damaged near Vancouver Lake.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:25 UTC | 20:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | PQR |
| 20:58 UTC | 21:18 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PQR |
Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.
The air that afternoon
The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.
Salem/Mcnary, OR (KSLE), 12:00Z
8.3 hours before the tornado, 93 km from the path. January 10, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -104 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 505 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 74 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 399 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 435 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.9 K/km
Salem/Mcnary, OR (KSLE), 00:00Z
3.7 hours after it, 93 km from the path. January 11, 2008.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 123 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 325 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 752 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 116 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.2 K/km
The radar
The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 29 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:14 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:15 UTC | TORNADO | Vancouver Lake | Clark, WA | TOUCHDOWN REPORTED FROM NEAR 78TH AND FRUIT VALLEY ROAD. |
| 20:16 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 4 Nnw Downtown Vancouve | Clark, WA | SPOTTER REPORTED DIME SIZED HAIL...APPROX. 0.70 INCHES IN DIAMETER |
| 20:16 UTC | HAIL 0.5 | 4 Nnw Downtown Vancouver | Clark, WA | SPOTTER REPORTED DIME SIZED HAIL...APPROX. 0.70 INCHES IN DIAMETER |
| 20:20 UTC | TORNADO | Hazel Dell | Clark, WA | TORNADO PRODUCED DAMAGE TO THE SIDING AND AWNINGS ON 24 MOBILE HOMES. ONE MOBILE HOME RECEIVED SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE FROM FALLEN TREE. |
| 20:24 UTC | TORNADO | Vancouver Lake | Clark, WA | TOUCHDOWN REPORTED FROM NEAR 78TH |
| 20:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Hazel Dell | Clark, WA | THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED HAIL SEVERAL INCHES DEEP IN THE 2800 BLOCK OF NW 93RD STREET IN HAZEL DELL. |
| 20:25 UTC | HAIL | Hazel Dell | Clark, WA | THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED HAIL SEVERAL INCHES DEEP IN THE 2800 BLOCK OF NW 93RD STREET IN HAZEL DELL. |
| 20:25 UTC | TORNADO | Hazel Dell | Clark, WA | TORNADO PRODUCED WIND DAMAGE TO 60 TO 80 STRUCTURES. |
| 20:30 UTC | TORNADO | Hazel Dell | Clark, WA | TORNADO WITH PRELIMINARY RATING OF EF1 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 90 TO 110 MPH. TORNADO PATH LENGTH WAS APPROX. 2 MILES LONG AND 1/4 MILE WIDE...EXTENDING FROM VANCOUVER LAKE AT FRUIT VLY RD AN |
| 20:35 UTC | TORNADO | Hazel Dell | Clark, WA | TREE DAMAGE. POWER LINES DOWN AND TRANSFORMER BLOWN IN HAZEL DELL. POWER FOR ABOUT 2500 CUSTOMERS IN THE AREA IS OUT. |
| 20:40 UTC | TORNADO | 3 S Hockinson | Clark, WA | TORNADO DESTROYED A PATIO BUILDING ON A FARM. IT LIFTED THE ROOF UP 100 FEET IN THE AIR AND DEPOSITED IT 200 YARDS DOWNSTREAM IN A FIELD. |
| 20:40 UTC | TORNADO | Hockinson | Clark, WA | TORNADO SPOTTED SOUTH OF HOCKINSON HIGH SCHOOL AND JUST WEST OF 172ND AVENUE |
| 20:45 UTC | TORNADO | Hockinson | Clark, WA | TORNADO SPOTTED SOUTH OF HOCKINSON HIGH SCHOOL AND JUST WEST OF 172ND AVENUE |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in WashingtonEvery tornado in Washington since 1950Warnings in force in Washington nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of January 10, 2008
16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 10 | 11:27 AM CST | EF1 | Claiborne, MS | 3.1 | 250 | $20,000 | ||
| January 10 | 11:51 AM CST | EF3 | Holmes, MS | 9.7 | 1,320 | 3 | $3.0 million | |
| January 10 | 12:28 PM CST | EF3 | Attala, MS | 23.6 | 880 | 3 | $4.0 million | |
| January 10 | 12:39 PM CST | EF0 | Rankin, MS | 1.8 | 40 | |||
| January 10 | 1:08 PM CST | EF0 | Marengo, AL | 0.5 | 200 | $100,000 | ||
| January 10 | 1:10 PM CST | EF1 | Pointe Coupee Parish, LA | 0.3 | 30 | $1.5 million | ||
| January 10 | 1:42 PM CST | EF0 | Neshoba, MS | 1.5 | 75 | $130,000 | ||
| January 10 | 1:54 PM CST | EF1 | Tishomingo, MS | 2.8 | 100 | $25,000 | ||
| January 10 | 2:02 PM CST | EF1 | Barren, KY | 3.1 | 350 | $500,000 | ||
| January 10 | 2:09 PM CST | EF3 | Lowndes, MS to AL | 13.3 | 2,500 | 11 | $7.1 million | |
| January 10 | 2:55 PM CST | EF2 | Wayne, TN | 1.3 | 40 | $200,000 | ||
| January 10 | 2:58 PM CST | EF1 | Noxubee, MS | 1.9 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| January 10 | 3:02 PM CST | EF0 | Noxubee, MS | 0.8 | 40 | |||
| January 10 | 3:10 PM CST | EF0 | Pickens, AL | 0.0 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| January 10 | 3:43 PM CST | EF1 | Pickens, AL | 2.0 | 100 | $55,000 | ||
| January 10 | 4:11 PM CST | EF3 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 5.6 | 350 | $435,000 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.