Rare Tornado Hits Longview, Washington (Photo, Video)

Damage from a tornado that hit
Longview, Washington today.  

New England wasn't the only place in the nation having stormy weather today.

The town of Longview, Washington was hit by a rare tornado today. It ripped roofs off buildings, toppled trees and power lines  and scared quite a few people, but luckily nobody got hurt.

Television station KOMO said the tornado was on the ground along a path of up to a mile in Longview and Kelso. The two communities are in southwestern, near the border with Oregon and not far from Portland, Oregon.

National Weather Service meteorologists were on their way to Longview to assess the strength of the storm.

If I had to guess based on video of the twister, I'd say it was a low end EF1, meaning it had winds of 86 to 110 mph, probably closer to 86 mph. We'll see what the experts say.

Washington State averages two tornadoes a year.

This is the second time this month the state has had a tornado scare.

Tornado warnings went up in parts of the Seattle area on October 11 when a waterspout touched down off Anderson island. The waterspout never made it to shore and there were no injuries and little if any damage with that storm.

Here's a video of the Longview tornado as it blew right across the street from the person taking the video. A voice heard in the video says they shouldn't be near windows. They were right, but in this case, the people near the windows didn't have to contend with shattering glass.