Rare Tornado Risk Forecast in the Pacific Northwest

National Weather Service forecasters expect a slight tornado risk in the Pacific Northwest for the first time in more than 30 years.

Men fish from boats on the choppy Columbia River in The Dalles, Ore., in this file photo. Craig Mitchelldyer/Getty Images

A rare tornado risk was forecast on May 28 by the National Weather Service (NWS) for the first time in more than 30 years across three states in the Pacific Northwest as part of a storm system extending across Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

Forecasters at the NWS’s storm prediction center in Oklahoma predicted a slight risk of severe thunderstorms in the region in the afternoon and night from western Idaho into central Washington and Oregon.