EF1 tornado in Fayette County, Pennsylvania

An EF1 tornado developed within a squall line, near Haddenville, PA in Fayette County on March 16th. Initial EF0 damage, consisting of uprooted hardwood trees was noted along Stoney Point Road, north of the intersection with New Salem Road. The tornado then tracked to the northeast between Stoney Point and Kaider Roads possibly touching down and lifting several times as damage was more sporadic through the first half mile of its track. The tornado intensified as it neared Sunset Way, where EF1 damage was noted. This included a front door and windows being blown in on a newly completed house, loss of shingles and siding, trees uprooted and the flattening of a small shed. The tornado advanced down a hill and crossed Kaider Road near Kurutz Lane. A single family residence near this intersection had several windows broken and a portion of its

roof was torn off and blown into a tree line some 500 feet away. The same tree line saw multiple trees snapped and uprooted. The tornado then weakened as it approached Haddenville Road, where EF0 damage was noted including: loss of shingles, a softwood tree snapped and multiple trees damaged and uprooted. The tornado began to dissipate

near Highway 40.

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).