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EF1 tornado in Indiana County, Pennsylvania

Tornado March 16, 2025 · Indiana County, Pennsylvania

EF1
Rating
1.1 mi
Path length
50 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado touched down in a field near Barrondale Rd., causing partial collapse of a barn and uplifting the roof of an outbuilding before moving into a forested area and causing sporadic hardwood tree damage. Damage became more consistent along a ridge line immediately south of Luciusboro Rd. The tornado crossed the road, snapping the tops of softwood trees before uplifting the roof and collapsing the walls of a second

barn. Debris from the second barn was lofted and ejected to the left of the track. The tornado continued into the woods and to the next ridge line, uprooting a cluster of large hardwoods and snapping multiple trunks. A portion of the barn roof was deposited near the ridge line, over 300 yards to the north. Peak estimated wind speed of the tornado was 105 MPH.

The wider storm

A strongly forced band of convection developed over West Virginia in the morning ahead of an approaching front, and quickly lifted north-northeastward into Pennsylvania through the early afternoon. Despite relatively modest instability, very strong deep layer shear, along with largely unidirectional southerly flow and elongated hodographs, supported the continuation of significant severe storms. Large impact was felt from straight-line wind, with gusts in the 60 to 80 MPH range, locally higher, causing widespread damage to trees, power lines, and structures. The line of storms continued into Pennsylvania, where the environment was more favorable for tornadic development. In addition to damaging winds, a number of large hail reports were received, with some stones as large as 1.75 inch diameter. Also, embedded supercells/mesovortices produced five confirmed tornadoes during the afternoon (one of which crossed from Fayette County into Westmoreland County).

Began near Gratton (40.4856, -79.1785).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1247587. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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