EF1 Tornado — Indiana, Pennsylvania

2025-03-16 · near Gratton, Indiana, Pennsylvania

1.1 mi

Path length

50 yds

Path width

Event narrative

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.

Wider weather episode

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).

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.4856, -79.1785)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1247587. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.