F1 tornado in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania

The same line of severe thunderstorms that produced sporadic damage in eastern Bradford county exhibited one intensifying supercell as it edged eastward into Susquehanna county. This storm ultimately became tornadic. Ground and aerial damage surveys indicate the tornado first touched down in Auburn township in the southwestern corner of the county. A discontinuous damage path was evident in Auburn township, mainly along ridge top sections and east of route 267. Trees were cut down and twisted in a convergently rotating pattern. One mobile home was destroyed when several large trees fell upon it. Amazingly, the occupant inside the structure was unharmed. The twister then continued eastward into Springville township; skipping primarily along the higher elevations and shearing off tree tops. However, once the tornado crossed to the east of route 29, it appeared to briefly intensify as it ripped the roof off of a small brick storage building and completely leveled another mobile home along state route 3017 just east of Taylor Hill. Fortunately, the home was vacant at the time. Once the tornado began climbing the next set of ridges to the east, it lifted back into the cloud base as the pattern of damage was not seen further downstream. In all, damage estimates were close to $300,000, mainly from structural damage to the aforementioned structures and deforestation. The intensity was rated as F1 with a damage path of about 12 miles from Auburn township into Lathrop township. The width of damage was no greater than about 100 yards at any given time.

For the second time in three days, significant severe weather including tornadoes affected northeastern Pennsylvania. The primary focusing mechanisms were a strong mid level shortwave and surface cold front that approached the region during the evening of the 2nd. Strongly veering wind profiles that increased with height contributed significantly to the development of tornadic supercells. Two long tracked supercells produced tornadic damage across northeastern Pennsylvania during this event. The first tornado touched down in southwestern Susquehanna county in Auburn towship just after 9 pm EDT. This tornado tracked along a 12 mile path through Springville and Lathrop townships. Several mobile homes were damaged or destroyed and the roof of a small storage building was torn away. The twister also cut down scores of trees along the way. Its intensity was rated as F1. Fortunately, no injuries resulted. The other twister tracked along approximately a 35 mile path from extreme southeastern Bradford county across the length of northern Wyoming county and into northwestern Lackawanna county before weakening. The most devastation occurred in the small vacation community of Lake Carey in Wyoming county. The tornado strengthened to F3 intensity at Lake Carey and killed two people and injured a total of fifteen. More than 40 homes immediately surrounding the lake were either heavily damaged or destroyed. Additional residences were damaged or leveled further to the east through East Lemon township in northern Wyoming county. Isolated structural damage and considerable tree damage was the rule from Terry township in Bradford county eastward to just west of Lake Carey and also from East Lemon township eastward to near Lackawanna State Park where the tornado finally dissipated. In all, over 50 homes were damaged or destroyed and total damage estimates in the three county area exceeded three million dollars. Other smaller scale bow echo complexes produced widespread wind damage in the form of downed trees and power lines primarily across the northern tier counties and sections of the Poconos. Portions of Bradford, Susquehanna, and Wayne counties were without power for most of the night as electrical crews could not keep up with reports of downed wires. The most severely damaged areas including the Lake Carey vicinity needed assistance from the National Gaurd to clean up excess debris and help with repairs. Much of northeastern Pennsylvania qualified for federal disaster assistance.