Home / Pennsylvania / Erie

EF0 tornado in Erie County, Pennsylvania

Tornado November 5, 2017 · Erie County, Pennsylvania

EF0

Rating

1.9 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

$500K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

An EF0 tornado touched down in Millcreek Township near the intersection of Butt Street and Sterrettania Road. The tornado continued east northeast and damaged a few homes and a shopping plaza along Legion Road. Most of the damage was from lost roofing. Several trees were uprooted in the area as well. The tornado strengthened to EF1 intensity as it approached Intestate 79. Several businesses in the area sustained damage. After crossing Interstate 79 the tornado traveled several more blocks and weakened to EF0 intensity. The tornado eventually lifted as it approached Greengarden Boulevard after being on the ground nearly two miles. Dozens of trees were downed along the damage path.

The wider storm

A cold front moved across the Ohio Valley and southern Great Lakes on the afternoon of Sunday, November 5th, 2017. Unseasonably warm and humid air was in place across the region ahead of the front. The cold front gradually progressed across the Ohio Valley and thunderstorms initiated and swept east ahead of the front. The storms formed in a very strong wind field and allowed the storms to move very rapidly east at speeds of 60 to 80 mph. A tornado was reported near Erie and strong winds downed many trees across the area.

Began near Westminster (42.0850, -80.1396).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 727452. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.