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= Oregon April 5th 2026 Super Outbreak =

Introduction
Western Oregon along with the rest of the state gets only a small handful of tornadoes per year. Most of them being weak and insignificant. In order to have tornadoes, you need certain ingredients to be in play.

Ingredients needed
Moisture: Moisture is a big factor in the genesis of a tornado. Western Oregon along with the rest of the western Pacific Northwest gets more rain per year than anywhere else in the lower 48 states; The exception being Hawaii. This is thanks to a weather pattern called the Aleutian Low that pushes the warmer Pacific high south during fall and winter. The Pacific high and the Aleutian Low greatly influence the jet stream. Along with moisture, the storms are capable of producing wind shear.

Wind Shear:  Thanks to the extratropical cyclone’s being dependent on the winds of the jet stream, they are more than capable of producing wind shear which is absolutely crucial for tornado genesis. But there are two ingredients that are often missing whenever these storms hit the Pacific Northwest.

Instability and Lift:  Normally, whenever you have a tornado form in Tornado Alley, the greatest area of instability is often referred to as the dry line. This is where supercell thunderstorms can fire up when the cold and warm front converge on the warm sector and the warm moist air lifts up as the colder air comes in. This ingredient is often hindered by certain factors.

Oceanic and Topographical Factors: While there are warm waters in Northern California, it is often not enough to supply the ingredients needed for tornado genesis. Also by the spring and summer months, the Pacific high has already lifted up the jet stream. The most favorable places for tornadoes in the state of Oregon are along the coast range and the Willamette Valley. Anywhere in between, you hit the coastal foothills and anywhere east of the valley, you run into the Cascade Mountain Range. Their elevation can make it more difficult for tornadoes to form. In order to produce tornadoes in Oregon, conditions have to be just right.

Meteorological Synopsis
On this day, April 5th 2026, the weather was unseasonably warm and humid. The temperatures were in the low to mid 80’s with the humidity at 80%. A strong cold front was due to arrive in the mid afternoon and there were strong southern winds streaming from the Willamette Valley and unusually strong East winds coming from the Cascades. The SPC put in a moderate risk for tornadoes and a 15% hatched risk for violent tornadoes along the Willamette Valley. As the day progressed, the SPC put in a high risk for tornadoes and a 35% hatched risk for strong and violent tornadoes along the Willamette Valley. The conditions were setting up as if a powder keg was waiting to go off.

The Light that Sparked the Flame
Starting at around 2:30 PM, Thundershowers began to pop up along the coastline and would continue to strengthen. At 2:45 PM, a tornado watch would be in effect in Lincoln, Tillamook, Benton and Lane Counties. 15 minutes later, those watches would be upgraded to tornado warnings when observers and weather spotters saw 11 waterspouts scattered along the coastline that would all eventually cross land to become tornadoes. Fortunately, were either weak and insignificant, or never hit anything, so they were classified as EF0 tornadoes. 4 tornadoes in Oregon is a lot for one year but 11 in a single day, that's a record. But the day was just getting started as the storms would pass through. Unfortunately we would see the atmosphere tragically get more volatile as the day went on.

Salem Oregon Tornado
At 3:49 PM, Observers spotted a funnel cloud forming 4 miles south of the small town of Roselle. 4 minutes later, the tornado would quickly grow into a large wedge tornado with core winds at its base measured at 185 mph. The residents of Rosedale barely had any time to react. a few minutes later, the Tornado would strike through the heart of town, at around 4:15 PM, The National Weather Service in Salem Oregon declared a tornado emergency for the State Capital of Salem and cities surrounding the area. After striking the town of Rosedale and the state capital, the tornado would dissipate just after crossing the Willamette river into West Salem. 1 day later it was observed that 80% of Rosedale was either heavily damaged or completely leveled from the tornado. The State Capital and its south metropolitan area sustained catastrophic damage. Many homes were swept away, the Capitol building was severely damaged and many businesses were destroyed. Of the 70 people killed in the tornado, 54 of them resided in homeless encampments.

Eugene Oregon Tornado
Eugene Oregon Tornado:  Less than an hour after the Salem tornado, Another wedge tornado was spotted headed towards Downtown Eugene 12 minutes after forming on the outskirts of the towns of Veneta and Crow. The Tornado was 1.1 miles wide at its base with winds at its core measured at 198 MPH. At 5:00 PM PT, the NWS declared a tornado emergency for the city of Eugene as the city would take a direct hit from the tornado. Entire swaths of forest were ripped up by the tornado on the way to the city. When the tornado hit the city of Eugene, many businesses and homes were completely destroyed. A large chunk of the University of Oregon campus was either destroyed or severely damaged  The substation for the city was destroyed in the tornado. The tornado would cross the Willamette River where it would dissipate just outside of Springfield, but not before causing EF2 damage outside of town. In all, there were 40 recorded fatalities and 2,000 injuries and nearly $2.5 billion in damages caused by the tornado.

Portland Oregon Tornado
Already being a dark day for the state, This monster formed outside the city of Woodburn. The tornado was rapidly intensifying just minutes after touching down. At 5:02 PM, a tornado emergency would be declared for the city of Woodburn. The tornado caused EF2 damage while crossing through, killing 2 people and injuring 40 others. It continued to strengthen after leaving Woodburn where it would grow to be almost a mile wide.

The next city it would hit would be the Eastern part of Wilsonville, causing EF4 damage, killing 15 people and injuring 200. While it looked like it would start to weaken after hitting Wilsonville, the Tornado intensified again and grew into a 2.1 mile wide wedge tornado with winds at its base circulating at around 250 mph. The tornado followed east of the I-5 North corridor and was leaving complete devastation in its wake.

As the tornado was nearing Lake Oswego, The National Weather service declared a tornado emergency for Clackamas County and Multnomah County. But many residents did not heed the warnings seriously as tornadoes were rare in the state. At 5:53, the tornado hit Lake Oswego, causing high end EF5 damage in the process which cost $2.4 billion. The tornado also killed another 20 people and injured another 170. At 6:00 PM, the tornado slammed right into the heart of Downtown Portland, causing EF5 damage to the city and much of the surrounding suburbs of Multnomah County. The tornado would eventually roll to the west where it would dissipate in the West Sylvain area.

Oak Grove/NE Portland/Five Corners
While the EF5 Monster was wreaking havoc in downtown Portland, at 6:04, Police officers spotted a tornado forming near the town of Oak Grove. The city was already under the gun due to the Portland EF5 that went through the nearby city of Lake Oswego. By 6:09 PM, the Tornado would cross into Oak Grove, causing high end EF2 to low end EF3 Damage, killing 6 people and injuring 120. After leaving the town, the tornado would travel in a slight northeast trajectory, crossing highway 224 where it would just miss a Bobs Red Mill factory, but would hit the nearby business district. From there, the tornado would grow into a 0.8 mile wedge with winds at its core measured at 175 mph. The tornado would cross paths with other satellite tornadoes causing low end EF4 damage to businesses and homes. at 6: 30 PM, the tornado would slam into Northeast Portland, causing high end EF4 damage while crossing I-205 and I-84. at 6:45 PM the tornado would cross the Columbia River where it would begin to weaken and then dissipate in the Five Corners Area of Vancouver Washington, but not before causing EF2 damage to parts of the city.

Salem Oregon
Once it was deemed safe to do damage assessment, the type of damage seen would lead residents to be horrified. It was observed that 80% of Rosedale was either heavily damaged or completely leveled from the tornado. The State Capital and its south metropolitan area sustained catastrophic damage. Many homes were swept away, the Capitol building was severely damaged and many businesses were destroyed. Of the 70 people killed in the tornado, 54 of them resided in homeless encampments. This tornado would also be one of the costliest tornadoes ever recorded, doing roughly $2.0 billion in damages. This would be quickly surpassed by other tornadoes in the day.

Eugene, Oregon
Once structural engineers were able to observe the damage, they would tell you that a bomb had gone off in the city. Unfortunately for the city of Eugene along with homes constructed in Oregon, they were simply not designed to handle the winds from such a powerful tornado. Many trees in the surrounding area were uprooted or mowed down by the tornado. The University of Oregon would hold the rest of their classes online as the campus would need to be extensively rebuilt. In all, there were 40 recorded fatalities and 2,000 injuries and nearly $2.5 billion in damages caused by the tornado.

Portland Oregon
The damage to Downtown Portland was apocalyptic. Several skyscrapers were severely damaged or leveled, many of the homes and businesses on the western side of downtown were swept clean while the eastern part of downtown Portland received Low to high end EF4 damage. Of the nearly 250 fatalities in Portland alone, 80% were from homeless camps. The total damage to the city was nearly $5 billion. Along the tornado's path, there were spots where the ground was scoured as deep as 5 feet. This would be what ultimately led this tornado to being rated an EF5. In total, This tornado killed 315 people and injured 7300 people and caused over $8.6 billion in damages, nearly quadrupling the damage caused by the Joplin Missouri Tornado in 2011.

East Portland Tornadoes
The damage from two of the tornadoes that hit the eastern portion of the Portland Metropolitan area were greatly overshadowed by the EF4 wedge tornado that carved its way through SE and NE Portland. Surveyors had a particularly hard time trying to survey the damage paths because the two smaller tornadoes crossed paths with the damage path left by the larger twister. The damage left by the one that formed in the Oak Grove area was catastrophic as many businesses and homes were completely destroyed by the twister. In all, the three tornadoes caused 29 fatalities and 664 injuries and caused $940 million in damages. Many of those Fatalities would be from people being in their cars while their cars were tossed around by the twister.

Recovery
The recovery process would be slow and painful. The recovery process was further hindered by the fact that due to the heavy rain and unusually warm weather, the snowpack off of Mountains like Mt Hood was melting faster than usual. This was particularly alarming because the Cascades had a well above average snowfall throughout the winter.

Flooding:
Three days after the tornado outbreak, the NWS would post flood watches and warnings for cities and towns nearby any streams and rivers that flow from the Cascades. While cities like Corvallis, Eugene, Salem and Oregon City were impacted by some flooding, Portland got the worst of it as the city is located right next to the Willamette River and the mighty Columbia River. To the residents of Portland, it felt like the 1996 flood all over again for those who remembered it. Fortunately, the flood wasn’t as bad as the one in 1996. There were still 20 recorded fatalities and $400 million in damages as a result of the flooding.

Conclusion
This kind of event was a once in a lifetime for the region and to say it made national headlines would be an understatement. The only places you normally hear of tornado outbreaks like this would be Tornado Alley or Dixie Alley. Up to now, the costliest tornado outbreak was the Dixie Alley super outbreak of April 27, 2011. The reason this outbreak was more costly despite there being only 31 confirmed tornadoes was because most of the larger tornadoes struck major cities. This day, meteorologists dread to talk about because of the amount of life lost in the state. What they will tell you is that it would be a day that would be remembered as a day of infamy. To me, it felt like mother nature was determined to wipe the Portland Metro Area off the map.