Washington gets mini tornado on anniversary of Seattle’s big one

Debris was seen swirling in the air and weather officials confirmed ‘weak’ twister after thunderstorm warnings

A tornado was spotted passing through southwest Washington almost 59 years after the childhood home of Microsoft founder Bill Gates was torn to pieces by a big twister.

Video footage shared to social media on Monday evening showed the tornado passing through the city of Battle Ground, in Clark County, southwest Washington.

National Weather Service officials in Portland said the tornado was “weak” but that two meteorologists would conduct a storm survey to determine its size on Tuesday.

It was not clear what, if any, damage was caused by the tornado, which passed north of the city and followed earlier weather warnings of a thunderstorm.

Video of Monday’s tornado showed dark clouds swirling above the roofs of homes, with what appeared to be small debris in the air. Many on social media speculated that it would be confirmed as tornado.

It was not the first time a tornado had hit western Washington state, with a similar event occurring in 2018 in Port Orchard, a city south of Seattle.

While on 28 September 1962 – and almost 59 years to the day of the Battle Ground tornado – a tornado was the first reported weather event of its kind in the state, again amid thunderstorms.

According to the Seattle Times, among the victims of that tornado were Mr Gates, who was six-years-old when his family’s home in North Ridge, a suburb to the north of the city, was hit.

That tornado uprooted trees and ripped the roofs and porches off homes in North Ridge before crossing Lake Washington and hitting the Eastside neighbourhood of the city.

A meteorologist from the University of Washington estimated at the time that it had wind speeds of 100mph, and was nearly 100 foot high, the Times reported.

The National Weather Service were expected to reveal more information on Tuesday.