Thunderstorm Wind — Erie, Pennsylvania

2010-06-06 · near North Springfield, Erie, Pennsylvania

Event narrative

A thunderstorm downburst with wind gusts estimated to be at least 60 mph caused damage at a campground in western Erie County. The campground is located along Lake Erie northwest of North Springfield. Several trees were knocked down and a camper trailer overturned at the campground. A 36 year old man was killed when the overturned camper landed on him. A damage path containing dozens of downed trees continued east from the campground for at least a mile. The same thunderstorm that produced this downburst later produced a weak tornado that caused damage from northeast of North Springfield to near Girard.

Wider weather episode

A stationary front remained stretched across the Upper Ohio Valley during the early morning hours of June 6th. This front kept a very warm and humid airmass over northwestern Pennsylvania. A rapidly deepening area of low pressure moved quickly east across southern lower Michigan during the evening hours of June 5th. This low eventually moved across Lake Erie during the early morning hours of the 6th. Showers and thunderstorms developed along the stationary front stretching east from the low. These storms eventually moved into northwestern Pennsylvania during the early morning hours of June 6th. One of the stronger thunderstorms produced a downburst which overturned a camper trailer and killed a man. The same thunderstorm later produced a tornado in western Erie County. A second line of showers and storms affected Erie and Crawford Counties around daybreak on the 6th. These storms developed ahead of a cold front trailing the low. A tornado occurred in Crawford County just after daybreak.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (42.0047, -80.4384)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 241741. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.