Scary Day In Northwest Oregon This Past Friday! (credit: Tyler Ryals via The Weather Channel)

DISCUSSION: As a series of powerful low pressure systems made their way towards the Northwest United States at the start of last weekend, there were increasingly favorable conditions for the development of strong to severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes.  This was predominantly the result of a combination of factors which included: very pronounced wind shear (i.e., a quick change in the direction as well as a notable increase in wind speed with increasing height in the atmosphere), low lifting condensation level heights (i.e., effectively a particular low height at which air parcels were able to reach their point of condensation) which is a favorable ingredient for facilitating tornadic thunderstorms, and sufficiently strong low/mid-level atmospheric instability.  

Though the Pacific Northwest is not typically noted for a strong reputation with experiencing tornadic thunderstorms, this ended up being the situation which unfolded near the city of Manzanita, Oregon.  As shown in the footage attached above (courtesy of Tyler Ryals), a waterspout which ultimately moved ashore briefly as an EF-2 tornado did form just offshore from the city of Manzanita, OR on the evening of 14 October 2016.  Thus, the atmosphere did indeed become conducive enough for the generation of a tornado (despite its brief duration which would naturally be expected in this part of the United States based on longer-term climatological data). Nonetheless, despite the overall event not being as prolific as originally projected in various regional forecasts, this was still an important small-scale phenomena which bore serious consequences on people in and around the city of Manzanita.

To learn more about other high-impact weather events from across North America, be sure to click here!

​~Meteorologist Jordan Rabinowitz