Thunderstorm Wind in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania

Widespread tree damage that was consistent with 65 to

85 mph winds occurred throughout the Oakland and Susquehanna

Depot, PA area due to a long tracking supercell that caused a

large downburst. There were enhanced areas of tree damage where

local terrain effects caused funneling of winds and eddies to

form. The winds were noticeably higher in these areas, peaking at

90 to 100 mph. Some locations where these more intense funneling

winds occurred were along Oak Hill Road and Skinner Hill Road in

Oakland and in several drainages aligning from northwest to

southeast with the storm motion.

Also, near Boyden Street in Oakland there were several soft and

hardwood trees snapped 20 feet above the trunk. Finally, along

Turnpike Street in Susquehanna Depot, the cemetery had several

large pine trees snapped 15 feet above the trunk and a large maple

that was snapped. Multiple houses were damaged. The damage in these areas showed signs of rotation likely was caused from winds interacting with the

terrain and localized wind speeds up to 100 mph.

A passing cold front generated severe thunderstorms after the atmosphere ahead of it became unstable with high wind shear and steep temperature lapse rates. The scattered severe storms had very damaging winds, up to 100 mph as determined by a storm survey in Susquehanna County, and large hail. Numerous trees were knocked down in parts of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The survey team did note that terrain effects made the tree damage look like tornado damage in some areas but all damage was determined to be due to strong winds after accessing radar data.