Tornado hits Salem town square in Friday storms

Friday night’s storm that brought tornado warnings to Jackson County, led to a tornado hitting the town square in Salem.

The National Weather Service is confirming an EF-1 tornado with winds of 105 mph touched down in Washington County Friday night at 8:06 p.m., uprooting hard wood trees, damaging roofs and throwing a carport hundreds of feet.

After traveling about five and a half miles, the tornado damaged two businesses northwest of the county courthouse before lifting off the ground at 8:14 p.m., just north of the town square.

Photo: Friday night tornado damage in Washington County. Photo courtesy of Washington County Sheriff’s Department.