F1 tornado in Bradford County, Pennsylvania

A supercell thunderstorm became tornadic over southeastern portions of the county in Terry township. Eyewitness reports and damage surveys indicate that the twister first touched down just east of Robwood mountain and just west of State Route 2015 around 945 pm EDT. At this location, a mobile home was knocked off its foundation about 8 feet and sustained heavy damage on its front side. Fortunately for the two occupants who were inside the structure when the tornado struck, a farm vehicle, pickup truck, and storage shed all acted to stop the forward momentum of the trailer and prevent it from rolling down a fairly steep hill just ahead. Another storage building just north of the mobile home was severely damaged with its roof completely torn off and some metal beams removed from the siding. As the tornadic cell continued eastward, the funnel appeared to elevate for a time with sporadic damage at tree top level for about a mile downstream. Once the storm crossed just east of Billetts Pond, it descended to flatten a large barn. Debris was scattered in all directions from where the barn once stood with a large section of the roof thrown 200-300 yards downwind. Meanwhile, a newly built home with a large rear deck only 150 yards or so from the barn sustained relatively minor damage. Further to the east through Wyalusing and Tuscarora townships, the damage path became somewhat discontinuous once again and was confined mainly to hilltop sections with trees sheared off. Structural damage was not seen in these areas as they were sparsely populated. From the spot where the twister first touched down in Terry township eastward to the Wyoming county line, the length of the damage path was about 6 miles. The widths varied from 200 to 400 yards. Emergency management officials tallied total damages at just under a half million dollars.

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.