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EF1 tornado in Elk County, Pennsylvania

Tornado October 16, 2021 · Elk County, Pennsylvania

EF1

Rating

1.2 mi

Whole path

260 yd

Path width

Injury

$170K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Elk County → Jefferson County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 260 yards (0.15 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 EF-1 tornado was confirmed to have occurred in in Millstone Township, western Elk County during the morning of October 16, 2021. The tornado touched down in Jefferson County, PA and crossed the Clarion River into western Elk County around 8:08am. Maximum estimated wind speeds of 90 mph knocked down and uprooted several trees along River Road. One tree fell onto a cabin, and a hunter who was in a tree-stand was injured. The tornado had a maximum path width of 260 yards, and the path length in Elk County was a little over 0.6 miles.

The wider storm

A tornado that touched down in Jefferson County during the morning of October 16,2021 crossed into Millstone Township in western Elk County, producing EF-1 damage in Elk County. The tornado had estimated peak winds of 90 mph, a path length of just over 0.6 miles, and a maximum path width of 260 yards.

Began near Hallton (41.3524, -79.0482).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 979869. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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