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F3 tornado in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania

Tornado July 14, 2004 · Lebanon County, Pennsylvania

F3
Rating
7.5 mi
Path length
500 yd
Path width
$18.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 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

Thunderstorms spawned a strong F3 tornado in southern Lebanon County during the afternoon of July 14. The tornado first touched down in far western Lebanon County at 3:05 pm EDT, about 1 mile west of the town of Campbelltown. The tornado traveled east, and struck a housing development about one quarter mile south of Route 322. A total of 32 homes were destroyed, with another 37 homes sustaining significant damage. An additional 50 homes and 9 farm buildings in the area were damaged by downburst winds associated with the thunderstorm which spawned the tornado. The tornado continued along a path to the east for seven and one half miles. The tornado crossed Route 322 west of Mount Pleasant, and continued east, mainly across fields, until it lifted up about 2 miles northwest of the town of Cornwall at 3:15 pm EDT. The width of the tornado was one quarter mile.Although the tornadic damage was confined to the path described, additional damage occurred outside this path, again associated with downburst winds from the parent thunderstorm. Winds were estimated between 175 and 200 MPH, making this a strong F3 tornado on the Fujita scale. The tornado injured 24 persons, one critically. There were no deaths. The American Red Cross opened a mass care center, where over 50 people required assistance with sheltering. Between 25,000 and 30,000 customers lost power in Lebanon and Berks Counties as a result of the storms.

Began near Campbelltown (40.2833, -76.5833).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5413590. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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