Thunderstorm Wind — Chester, Pennsylvania

1994-07-27 · near To 2.5 E, Chester, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

A rare (with respect to both time of day and intensity) tornado outbreak affected eastern Chester County the evening of the 27th. Tornadic thunderstorms affected portions of the Middle Atlantic States south of Pennsylvania earlier that evening. As the first thunderstorm moved into southeast Chester County, it dropped its first tornado in London Britain Township near New London Road about 9:55 pm EST. The tornado reached its maximum intensity (F3 on the Fujita Scale) and destruction in the Hunter's Run Development on Crestwood Road. Six homes were destroyed and twenty-three were damaged. Eleven persons were injured. A 40-year-old man was critically injured when he was blown through his 2nd story window. Two teenagers were injured when a tree landed on their Ford Ranger Pickup. The rest of the injuries were mainly from flying glass. A gentleman's credit cards from London Britain were found 30 miles away. Heavy damage was reported along Chesterville Road as the tornado passed into New Garden Township. The worst damage in New Garden Township occurred to mushroom houses on Penn Green and Starr Roads. Eleven mushroom houses were damaged, three had their roofs torn off, eight had collapsed walls. Although the tornado lifted close to Starr Road in New Garden Township, downburst wind damage continued father north into neighboring townships. Even to the east of the tornado in London Britain Township, damaging wind gusts did massive damage in the White Clay Preserve and trees and wires were down on half the roads within the township. Farther north thunderstorm downburst winds ripped the roof off a hanger in the New Garden Airport and damaged the roof of the Unionville Elementary School in East Marlborough Township. Downed trees forced the closures of U.S. Routes 1 and 322 and Pennsylvania State Routes 41 and 162. Thunderstorm wind related damage continued north into Newlin Township and as the thunderstorm moved north into West Bradford, it dropped its second Chester County tornado of the evening. The weaker (F1 on the Fujita Scale) tornado touched down about 10:20 pm EST near the intersection of Telegraph and Sugarbridge Roads and uprooted trees. A mobile home on Sugar Bridge Road suffered severe damage to its porch and roof as a tree fell on it. The tornado followed a discontinuous path through West Bradford and northern East Bradford Township before lifting near the intersection of Boot and Valley Creek Roads. Most of the damage was uprooted trees and downed chimneys. Thunderstorm related wind damage was then reported in Downingtown with two foot diameter trees uprooted. As the thunderstorm headed north, wind related damage diminished. Just before it left Chester County, the thunderstorm split in two and the westward one entered Montgomery County near Limerick. The Chester County Office of Emergency Management estimated total damage in the county at $3.5 million with 9 houses or buildings totally destroyed and 49 other sustaining slight or moderate damage.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 10343562. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.