F2 tornado — Mercer County, Pennsylvania

F2 tornado in Mercer County, Pennsylvania

Tornado November 10, 2002 · Mercer County, Pennsylvania

Rating

7.0 mi

Path length

500 yd

Path width

Death

Injuries

$1.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Starting about 7:54 PM, an F2 tornado touched down near Trout Island Road, east of Sharpsville. The tornado traveled northeast at 50 mph, crossed Route 18, then ripped into Clark. It crossed Shenango River Lake and tracked to New Hamburg, where it dissipated 8:02 PM. The tornado path was 7 miles long, about 500 yards wide at its maximum, in the town of Clark. Maximum winds estimated 155 mph. Majority of damage and all injuries occurred in Clark. Fifteen homes completely destroyed, 13 major damage, 29 had minor damage. One business destroyed; 1 suffered major damage. A large number of trees were snapped or toppled. Large truck was overturned. One van was thrown across Route 258. Several other vehicles were moved by the tornado or suffered considerable damage. Strongest tornado in Mercer county since May 31,1985.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5323155. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F2 tornado in Mercer County, Pennsylvania

What the National Weather Service wrote

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