This spring, tornadoes have touched down in Washington, Oregon and California, but not in Michigan. Two tornadoes were reported near Spokane, Washington Friday evening (5/6/22). The tornadoes hit near the towns of Airway Heights (west of Spokane) and Dishman (east of Spokane). The second tornado hit a mobile home park and overturned a couple of trailers. The tornado was close to I-90. The tornadoes have been rated EF0. The NWS said:

"A NATIONAL WEATHER STORM SURVEY COMBINED WITH EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT
AND VIDEO FOOTAGE HAS CONFIRMED TWO TORNADOES ON MAY 6TH, 2022
BETWEEN 700 AND 725 PM PDT IN THE SPOKANE AREA. THE FIRST TORNADO
TOUCHED DOWN THREE MILES NORTHEAST OF AIRWAY HEIGHTS AT 
APPROXIMATELY 703 PM PDT LEADING TO TREE AND POWER LINE DAMAGE IN 
THE AREA. THE SECOND TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN SPOKANE VALLEY 
BETWEEN FREYA AND DISHMAN HILLS RECREATIONAL AREA AT APPROXIMATELY
720 PM PDT IMPACTING A MOBILE HOME PARK. SEVERAL TREES WERE 
UPROOTED OR DOWNED, WITH A COUPLE TRAILERS OVERTURNED."
Here’s a look at the clouds at the Spokane Airport. The storms produced wind damage at Medical Lake and at South Hill in the Spokane area.

Washington state usually gets 1 or 2 small tornadoes per year. The last tornado to hit the Spokane area was in August 2016.

Storm Reports from Friday 5/6

Here’s storm reports from Friday 5/6. Most of the severe weather was in the Southeast. You can see the red dots (tornadoes) near Spokane. You can also see a dot in Oregon, where one tornado touched down on Friday. The NWS said: 

TORNADO WITNESSED WITH   
            FURTHER REPORTS FROM EAST UMATILLA FIRE OF   
            WIND DAMAGE. THE SPOTTER AND EUF REPORTED   
            DAMAGE STARTING AT MILE POST 8.5 EXTENDS TO   
            BASKET MOUNTAIN ROAD. THIS DAMAGE INCLUDED   
            TREES DOWNED, A HOUSE WITH ITS ROOF BLOWN   
            OFF, A SHOP BLOWN DOWN, ANOTHER HOUSE WITH A   
            TREE BLOWN INTO IT AND A GROUP OF OUT   
            BUILDINGS MOVED OFF THEIR FOUNDATIONS. A   
            SEPARATE WITNESS INFORMED EAST UMATILLA FIRE   
            THAT THEY WITNESSED A FUNNEL CLOUD TOUCH   
            DOWN AND STIR UP DEBRIS."
   
  

Also, hail 1 1/4″ hail fell just south of Pendleton, Oregon and nickel-sized hail pelted Spray OR.

On April 21, a tornado touched down in Central California. The NWS reported: “A BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN A FIELD WITH NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR INJURY. VIDEO EVIDENCE RECEIVED FROM TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER. PEAK WIND UNKNOWN.”

On the other hand, we have not had any tornadoes in Michigan. We’ve had very little strong thunderstorm activity due to the persistent cold weather pattern through the first week of May.