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F1 tornado in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Tornado December 1, 2006 · Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Rating

1.5 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

Death

$2.0M

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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

A thunderstorm spawned an F1 tornado south of the town of Halifax in Dauphin county, as determined by a National Weather Service storm survey team. The tornado was embedded within a much larger area of downburst wind damage.

The tornado touched down near Route 147 about 1.3 miles south of Halifax. The tornado traveled northeast about 1.5 miles, before dissipating in a wooded area. Major damage was sustained by 4 businesses and 1 home. Moderate damage was sustained by 4 additional residences. Minor damage occurred to several dozen homes. Top winds were estimated between 100 and 110 mph, categorizing the storm as an F1.

Damages from the tornado were estimated at nearly 2 million dollars. There was one fatality caused by a tree falling onto a car.

The wider storm

A strong cold front crossed central Pennsylvania during the afternoon of December 1st, 2006. Short lines of convection developed ahead of the main front, initiating much of the severe weather. A number of severe thunderstorms were spawned, as very strong winds aloft were mixed down to the surface. The pre-frontal convection also spawned one tornado.

Began near Halifax (40.4526, -76.9295).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 6358. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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