Two tornadoes touch down in Spokane area, bringing down trees and damaging homes, vehicles

Two tornadoes touched down Friday night in the Spokane area, leaving destruction in its path.

One tornado tipped trailers, damaged vehicles and forced trees across the road in Spokane Valley. The other caused power line and tree damage near Airway Heights, according to weather and fire officials.

Spokane Valley Fire Department Capt. Scott Crawford said two trailers at Central Mobile Home Park, 5820 E. Fourth Ave., tipped over, forcing the Spokane Fire Department to extricate one person from each mobile home.

Spokane Valley firefighters were driving to the incident but three or four downed trees blocked East Fourth Avenue, about one block from the trailers.

“We had to stop and clear trees before we could continue,” Crawford said.

The two people, who were helped from the trailers, were uninjured.

Next to the two trailers, a boat was forced from its boat trailer and two cars were damaged, Crawford said.

A tree was uprooted and fell on a house around the 8500 block of East Fifth Avenue, causing significant damage but no injuries, he said. Nearby, two cars were crushed by a tree as well.

Steven Van Horn, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Spokane, said the other tornado touched down near Greenwood Road and Kynan Lane, east of Northern Quest Resort and Casino.

Since 1950, 48 tornadoes have been reported in Eastern Washington.

A flood advisory was in effect for the Spokane area Friday night but no major flooding was reported in the area, Van Horn said. However, large puddles formed on the roads from heavy rains, causing a nuisance for drivers.

More than an inch of rain was recorded in North Spokane during a 24-hour period from Friday to Saturday afternoon.

“The rain came down quite heavy,” Van Horn said.

Elsewhere, 0.95 inches fell at Felts Field, 0.84 inches fell on the South Hill and 0.27 inches was reported at the Spokane International Airport.

Pea-sized hail was reported in some areas including the South Hill and near Airway Heights, Van Horn said. Hail coated the ground Saturday in Eagle Ridge south of Spokane.

Forecasters are calling for a mostly cloudy Mother’s Day with a high of 53 and a 10% chance of rain with possible isolated thunderstorms in the Spokane area.

It’s unlikely more tornadoes will hit the area, but because rain and thunderstorms are possible the next couple days, there’s always a risk, said Charlotte Dewey, meteorologist with the NWS Spokane.

Low temperatures will dip into the mid-30s early this week, with rain possible Monday and Tuesday.

April was colder than average and May is expected to be colder and wetter than normal as well, Van Horn said.