Public Information Statement
Issued by NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Issued by NWS Pittsburgh, PA
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956 NOUS41 KPBZ 091928 CCA PNSPBZ PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 328 PM EDT THU MAY 9 2024 ...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 05/08/2024 TORNADO EVENT... .JEFFERSON COUNTY OHIO, HANCOCK COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA, BEAVER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA... RATING: EF-2 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 130 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 15 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 200 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 1 START DATE: 05/08/2024 START TIME: 12:54 AM EDT START LOCATION: 3 SE SALINEVILLE / JEFFERSON COUNTY / OH START LAT/LON: 40.5834 / -80.8012 END DATE: 05/08/2024 END TIME: 01:17 AM EDT END LOCATION: 3 SSW HOOKSTOWN / BEAVER COUNTY / PA END LAT/LON: 40.5597 / -80.5119 SURVEY SUMMARY: A SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM, EMBEDDED WITHIN A BROKEN LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS, PRODUCED A SERIES OF TORNADOES AS IT TRACKED ACROSS EASTERN OHIO, THE NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE, AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON WEDNESDAY. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT TORNADO DEVELOPED ACROSS NORTHWEST JEFFERSON COUNTY OHIO AROUND 12:54 AM, ALONG COUNTY HIGHWAY 55. INITIALLY, IT SNAPPED AND UPROOTED NUMEROUS HARDWOOD TREES. AS THE TORNADO MOVED EAST ALONG HIGHWAY 55, IT TOOK ROOFS OFF MULTIPLE HOMES, OVERTURNED AND TOSSED A MOBILE HOME, AND SHIFTED A SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE OFF ITS FOUNDATION. THE TWISTER THEN MOVED INTO THE CENTER OF IRONDALE, WHERE NUMEROUS HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD TREES WERE UPROOTED AND SNAPPED, ALL CONSISTENT WITH EF- 2 DAMAGE. THE TORNADO WAS ABLE TO DESCEND AND CLIMB THROUGH STEEP TERRAIN, WITH HUNDREDS OF TREES OBSERVED DAMAGED OR DESTROYED FROM THE HIGHWAY 55 RIDGE LINE AND ALONG A STEEP SEVERAL HUNDRED FOOT ESCARPMENT. SEVERAL TREES FELL ONTO HOMES CAUSING DAMAGE. A METAL BUILDING SYSTEM LOST ITS ROOF AND PART OF THE SIDE WALLS. THE TORNADO CONTINUED TO MOVE EAST CAUSING DOWNED TREES ALONG STATE ROUTE 213 IN HAMMONDSVILLE EASTWARD TO THE OHIO RIVER.AFTER CROSSING THE OHIO RIVER SOUTH OF WELLSVILLE, THE TORNADO REACHED PEAK INTENSITY AS IT CROSSED THE COMMUNITY OF FAIRHAVEN SEVERAL MILES SOUTH OF CHESTER, WEST VIRGINIA. EXTENSIVE TREE AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ALONG INTERNATIONAL DRIVE AND LOCUST HILL ROAD. THERE WERE MULTIPLE HOMES THAT LOST THEIR ENTIRE ROOF AND SUSTAINED DAMAGE TO SIDE WALLS. NUMEROUS BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED. ALL MATURE HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD TREES, SOME WELL OVER 100 YEARS OLD, WERE SNAPPED WITH A FEW LINGERING HARDWOOD TREES THAT WERE DEBARKED. A HIGH- END EF2 RATING OF 130 MPH WAS OBSERVED IN THIS LOCATION. PITTSBURGH DOPPLER RADAR VELOCITY SIGNATURES IN THIS AREA WERE AT THE HIGH END OF THOSE OBSERVED HISTORICALLY, COUPLED WITH A SIGNIFICANT DEBRIS SIGNATURE ALOFT. FURTHER DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ACROSS ROUTE 8 EXTENDING BACK UPHILL INTO THE NEXT RIDGE LINE, WHERE AN AUTO REPAIR METAL OUTBUILDING WAS DESTROYED, ALONG WITH DAMAGE SUSTAINED TO SEVERAL VINTAGE AUTOMOBILES. THE ADJACENT PROPERTY SUFFERED LOSS OF ROOFING, A PORCH, AND AN ADDITION. THE TORNADO FINALLY CROSSED THE PENNSYLVANIA LINE INTO FAR WESTERN BEAVER COUNTY, WHERE THE LAST INDICATIONS OF DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ALONG GAS VALLEY ROAD WHERE SEVERAL TREES WERE UPROOTED. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WOULD LIKE TO THANK HANCOCK COUNTY OFFICE EMERGENCY SERVICES, JEFFERSON COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, AND THE IRONDALE FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE. THIS IS THE FIRST RECORDED TORNADO IN HANCOCK COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA, AND THE 9TH DOCUMENTED TORNADO IN JEFFERSON COUNTY OHIO. THE MOST RECENT ONE THERE WAS OCTOBER 21 2021 AND WAS RATED AN EF0. THIS WAS BEAVER COUNTY PA`S FIRST TORNADO SINCE OCTOBER 21, 2021 AS WELL. .FINDLAY TOWNSHIP PENNSYLVANIA TORNADO... RATING: EF-1 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 105 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 0.20 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 150 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: 05/08/2024 START TIME: 01:49 AM EDT START LOCATION: 3 ENE IMPERIAL-ENLOW / ALLEGHENY COUNTY / PA START LAT/LON: 40.4623 / -80.1968 END DATE: 05/08/2024 END TIME: 01:50 AM EDT END LOCATION: 3 ENE IMPERIAL-ENLOW / ALLEGHENY COUNTY / PA END LAT/LON: 40.4607 / -80.1936 SURVEY SUMMARY: A STORM SURVEY PERFORMED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONFIRMED THAT A BRIEF EF-1 TORNADO, WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 105 MPH, OCCURRED NEAR ATEN ROAD IN FINDLAY TOWNSHIP, JUST WEST OF I-376 AND ADJACENT TO THE PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NORTH OF ATEN ROAD, WHERE A TRAILER ON BLOCKS IN A PARKING LOT WAS OVERTURNED, WITH SOME TREE DAMAGE NEARBY. THE TORNADO THEN PROGRESSED SOUTHEAST, SNAPPING AT LEAST 15-20 TREES ALONG THE NORTHERN SIDE OF ATEN ROAD. THIS AREA REPRESENTED THE STRONGEST DAMAGE, WHERE THE 105 MPH WIND WAS ASSIGNED. A NEARBY OUTBUILDING LOST A METAL ROOF IN SEVERAL PIECES. ONE PORTION FELL ON THE INTERSTATE, WHILE ANOTHER BLEW OVER THE INTERSTATE AND LANDED ROUGHLY A QUARTER-MILE DOWNWIND. THE TORNADO CAUSED ADDITIONAL TREE DAMAGE NEAR THE EDGEWORTH SECURITY AND MARRIOT HOTEL BUILDINGS. THE TORNADO LIKELY THEN LIFTED, AS NO OTHER APPRECIABLE DAMAGE WAS NOTED OTHER THAN THE PREVIOUSLY NOTED ROOF PIECES THAT WERE BLOWN DOWNSTREAM. .LIGONIER TOWNSHIP PENNSYLVANIA TORNADO... RATING: EF-1 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 100 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 1.3 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 200 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: 05/08/2024 START TIME: 03:09 AM EDT START LOCATION: 1/2 N LATROBE RESERVOIR/ WESTMORELAND COUNTY / PA START LAT/LON: 40.2986 / -79.2485 END DATE: 05/08/2024 END TIME: 03:11 AM EDT END LOCATION: 1/3 ESE MORNING STAR MEADOWS FARM / WESTMORELAND COUNTY / PA END LAT/LON: 40.2982 / -79.2268 SURVEY SUMMARY: THE TEAM OBSERVED TREE DAMAGE ALONG MATSON ROAD WHERE THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN INITIALLY. THE DAMAGE IN THIS AREA WOULD INDICATE AN EF0 TORNADO, WITH A COUPLE OF TREES, SNAPPED MORE THAN HALFWAY UP FROM THE BASE. THE TEAM NOTICED MORE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE STARTING AT AUSTRAW ROAD, WHERE SEVERAL TREES WERE EITHER UPROOTED, OR THEIR TRUNKS WERE SNAPPED HALFWAY UP. A SMALL CATTLE SHELTER ALSO COLLAPSED IN THIS AREA. THE TREE DAMAGE CONTINUED UP AND DOWN THE HILLSIDE TO THE EAST TOWARD MCCURDY TRAIL AND BERKELEY ROAD. CONCENTRATED DAMAGE OCCURRED AROUND TWO HOMES IN THIS AREA, MAINLY TO TREES. A MIX OF VERY LARGE HARD AND SOFTWOOD TREES WAS SNAPPED LOW ON THE TRUNK AND UP HIGH, WHILE OTHERS WERE UPROOTED. ANOTHER AREA OF CONCENTRATED TREE DAMAGE WAS NOTED IN THE FIELDS EAST OF BERKELEY DOWN TO COALPIT CREEK, WHERE THE TORNADO LIFTED. THE TEAM ALSO OBSERVED THAT SOME TREES IN THIS AREA WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR BARK. && EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: EF0.....65 TO 85 MPH EF1.....86 TO 110 MPH EF2.....111 TO 135 MPH EF3.....136 TO 165 MPH EF4.....166 TO 200 MPH EF5.....>200 MPH NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENTS AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA. $$ Corrected start/end time of Ligonier Township tornado BOOKBINDER/MCMULLEN/HEFFERAN/LEONARDI/MILLER/DARNLEY