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EF1 tornado in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Tornado May 28, 2013 · Erie County, Pennsylvania

EF1
Rating
17.8 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
2
Injuries
$300K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 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

A second tornado touched down about two miles north of Edinboro. This tornado then traveled east to Union city and finally lifted about three miles southeast of the town. The tornado appears to have been on the ground only intermittently. The damage path was almost 18 miles in length and up to 150 yards in width. The tornado caused considerable tree damage in Union City. Trees were uprooted and multiple trees fell on homes causing additional damage. Some of the uprooted trees damaged road surfaces. The strong winds from the tornado also caused damage to roofs and siding. A building along Main Street lost it's brick facade. A couple of homes west of Union City lost large sections of roofing. A couple of farm buildings were also damaged. Damage elsewhere along the damage path consisted of mainly downed trees. Peak winds were estimated around 105 mph making this an EF1 tornado. Two minor injuries were reported.

The wider storm

A warm front lifted north across the upper Ohio Valley spreading warm and moist air across the region. Strong to severe thunderstorms developed in association with this front. A couple of the thunderstorms became severe. Two tornadoes occurred in southern Erie County and caused some damage. A motorcyclist hit a downed tree in western Crawford County and died from his injuries.

A second wave of thunderstorms occurred during the evening of the 29th as the warm front lingered over the region. A thunderstorm became severe in Crawford County and caused some damage.

Began near Edinboro (41.9000, -80.1300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 453558. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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