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EF1 tornado in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

Tornado June 1, 2012 · Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

EF1
Rating
4.8 mi
Path length
300 yd
Path width
$3.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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

The National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down near Ligonier in Westmoreland county on June 1st. The tornado initially touched down a quarter mile east of the Borough of Ligonier and traveled northeast causing sporadic damage over a path of approximately 5 miles before lifting east of the Champion Lakes golf course.

The most intense damage occurred to a house on Robb Road, where the entire roof was blown off. The width of the tornado at this location was approximately 100 yards. Another mile or two north, along route 711 and Stanislaw Farms, 10-20 trees were snapped at the truck or uprooted. Three stationary vehicles were moved three to six feet.

Sporadic snapping and uprooting of trees was observed until reaching the Antiochian Village. There, 14 cabins sustained minor damage, mainly from snapped trees landing on roofs. Approximately 27 structures and 2 businesses experienced some level of damage. Insured damages were estimated to be near 3 million dollars.

The wider storm

A strong squall line associated with a cold front crossed through western Pennsylvania in the afternoon on the 1st. While most of the line remained sub-severe, a microburst over Neville Island caused the golf dome at Robert Morris University to collapse. In addition, an EF-1 tornado caused damage to parts of Ligonier Borough in Westmoreland county.

Began near Oak Grove (40.2595, -79.2053).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 390625. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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