F3 Tornado in Lebanon County, PA July 14th

[tomboudreau]

Here is the write up of the tornado that struck Lebanon County, PA, yesterday afternoon.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
345 PM EDT THU JUL 15 2004
...STRONG F3 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN LEBANON COUNTY...

A SURVEY TEAM SENT BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE
CONFIRMED TODAY THAT THUNDERSTORMS SPAWNED A STRONG F3 TORNADO
DURING THE AFTERNOON OF WEDNESDAY JULY 14 IN SOUTHERN LEBANON
COUNTY.

THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN AT 3:05 PM EDT...ABOUT 1 MILE WEST OF
THE TOWN OF CAMPBELLTOWN IN FAR WESTERN LEBANON COUNTY. THE TORNADO
TRAVELED EAST...AND STRUCK A HOUSING DEVELOPMENT ABOUT ONE QUARTER
MILE SOUTH OF ROUTE 322. A TOTAL OF 32 HOMES WERE DESTROYED...WITH
ANOTHER 37 HOMES SUSTAINING SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. AN ADDITIONAL 50
HOMES IN THE AREA WERE DAMAGED BY DOWNBURST WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH
THE THUNDERSTORM THAT SPAWNED THE TORNADO. NINE OR MORE FARM
BUILDINGS WERE ALSO DAMAGED.

THE TORNADO CONTINUED ALONG A PATH TO THE EAST FOR SEVEN AND ONE
HALF MILES. THE TORNADO CROSSED ROUTE 322 WEST OF MOUNT
PLEASANT...AND CONTINUED EAST...MAINLY ACROSS FIELDS...UNTIL IT
LIFTED UP ABOUT 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE TOWN OF CORNWALL AT 3:15 PM
EDT. THE WIDTH OF THE TORNADO WAS ONE QUARTER MILE. ALTHOUGH THE
TORNADIC DAMAGE WAS CONFINED TO THE PATH DESCRIBED...ADDITIONAL
DAMAGE OCCURRED OUTSIDE THIS PATH...AGAIN ASSOCIATED WITH DOWNBURST
WINDS FROM THE PARENT THUNDERSTORM.

WINDS WERE ESTIMATED BETWEEN 175 AND 200 MPH...MAKING THIS A STRONG
CATEGORY 3 TORNADO ON THE FUJITA SCALE. FOR REFERENCE:

F0 - 40 TO 72 MPH WINDS
F1 - 73 TO 112 MPH WINDS
F2 - 113 TO 157 MPH WINDS
F3 - 158 TO 206 MPH WINDS
F4 - 207 TO 260 MPH WINDS
F5 - 261 TO 318 MPH WINDS

THE TORNADO INJURED 24 PERSONS...ONE CRITICALLY. NO DEATHS HAVE BEEN
ASSOCIATED WITH THE STORM.

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS OPENED A MASS CARE CENTER...WHERE OVER 50
PEOPLE REQUIRED ASSISTANCE WITH SHELTERING. BETWEEN 25,000 AND
30,000 CUSTOMERS LOST POWER IN LEBANON AND BERKS COUNTIES AS A
RESULT OF THE STORMS.

[pawlee]

my sister Michelle from my dad's side lives in Campbelltown. her boyfriend works for the township so i am anxious to hear from them.

here's what my grandfather in Hummelstown PA had to say...

hi paul, the local area made weather news yesterday 15th July at about 3pm. a f3 tornado hit Campbelltown causing quite a lot of damage. one person seriously injured ,alot of minor injuries scratches scrapes etc, 3o homes destroyed and many homes severley damaged. Campbelltown firehouse is being used as an emergency shelter. it was wierd, the sky began to darken until it was as dark as the middle of a real dark night. all through this we were having a severe thunderstorm and the rain was coming down like a solid sheet. you would have enjoyed being here. the power to almost 3000 residents in the imediate area is still off and the latest news is that 1200 may have power restored by midnight tonight. the area hit is a development called"country squire estates" thought that you would like to know that part of your old stamping grounds of tranquil PA. made news. will be in contact again soon, love gramps.

and my mom from S of Altoona...

Hey Kiddo - Guess you heard by now that they are pretty sure a tornado hit a housing development in Campbelltown. Atleast 100 homes were damaged or destroyed. No one was killed, but there were lots of people injured. It hit around 3:00 yesterday afternoon when mostly everybody was at work. Have you heard anything from Michelle. There was also another tornado in Fairview township. People saw it travel across interstate 83 and it did some damage. We just had a couple of showers yesterday, but nothing to get excited about. Luv ya, Mom

(thanks tom for posting the above info)

[pawlee]

news links...

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnew ... 218680.xml

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnew ... 218680.xml

http://www.whtm.com/news/stories/0704/159429.html

[Stephanie]

Thanks Tom for posting this!

Pawlee - they had it on Fox News last night (Philadelphia station) and They didn't immediately state it was a tornado. They were waiting for the NWS to come and make that determination. As soon as I saw that damage, I knew that it had to have been one. That's just too much damage for it to be from wind alone. F3 - that's unbelievable and almost unheard of around here!

[pawlee]

the news video says it all. it's wierd, i know this area... that's simply unbelievable for PA standards. torny's aren't uncommon in the Lebanon, Berks, Lancaster and Chester county areas but an F3? it seems that once you get S and E of the Appalachians, the probabilities increase. it's like the geography can almost be compared to the high plains from the foothills E where it rapidly flattens out but on a much much smaller scale.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5438007/

[Stormsfury]

the news video says it all. it's wierd, i know this area... that's simply unbelievable for PA standards. torny's aren't uncommon in the Lebanon, Berks, Lancaster and Chester county areas but an F3? it seems that once you get S and E of the Appalachians, the probabilities increase. it's like the geography can almost be compared to the high plains from the foothills E where it rapidly flattens out but on a much much smaller scale.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5438007/

Actually, that's more fact than just that it seems. The downsloping effect can serve as a dryline (on a smaller scale, as you so duly noted), and in certain corridors (from GA on through the Mid-Atlantic) this effect along with shear parameters can create the volitily in the atmosphere as severe as Tornado Alley on occasion.

SF

[Stephanie]

I know what you mean Pawlee. I'd say at least once a year you MAY hear about a tornado in one of those counties, but not an F3!

I read somewhere that those counties are the area's own "tornado alley". The geography out there is more condusive for tornados.

[pawlee]

check out these radar snags. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/ctp/features ... anon.shtml my grandparents live in Hummelstown, my dad used to live in Hershey, my sister lives near Campbelltown. i just spoke to my grandparents and in discussing his observation along with other family/neighbor accounts along with reviewing the storm relative winds, the meso basically went RIGHT OVER THEIR HEADS! they told me that response teams were sent in from all surrounding areas including Harrisburg, Steelton, Middletown and Lebanon areas. Hershey Medical Center set up a triage at the location and brought the LifeLine copter in to standby on site. he says that even for his area not directly affected by the torny, countless trees, limbs and lines are still down.

[pawlee]

one more link. check out the viewer pics on the link titled "storm". that wally over Dover is very close to where i lived when i was in high school. the whole event really makes me miss the E...

http://www.thewgalchannel.com/weather/3 ... etail.html

(PA people: did anyone catch forecasters Joe Calhoun (WGAL) or Chuck Rhodes (WHTM) when the warnings were occuring? how did they do? Chuck Rhodes is my favorite HBG met.)

[tomboudreau]

Another tornado hit PA this day as well. A weak F1 touched down in York county. Here is the NWS write up.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
631 PM EDT THU JUL 15 2004

...WEAK F1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN YORK COUNTY...

A SURVEY TEAM SENT BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE
CONFIRMED TODAY THAT THUNDERSTORMS SPAWNED A WEAK F1 TORNADO DURING
THE AFTERNOON OF WEDNESDAY JULY 14 IN NORTHERN YORK COUNTY.

THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN AT THE INTERSECTION OF ROUTE 83 AND
FISHING CREEK ROAD IN FROGTOWN. THE TORNADO TRAVELED EAST...DAMAGING
TWO BUILDINGS. WIND-BLOWN DEBRIS FROM THE TORNADO KNOCKED OUT DOZENS
OF CAR WINDOWS.

THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH WAS A HALF-MILE LONG AND ONE HUNDRED YARDS
WIDE. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED BETWEEN 73 TO 112 MPH...MAKING THIS A
CATEGORY 1 TORNADO ON THE FUJITA SCALE. FOR REFERENCE:

F0 - 40 TO 72 MPH WINDS
F1 - 73 TO 112 MPH WINDS
F2 - 113 TO 157 MPH WINDS
F3 - 158 TO 206 MPH WINDS
F4 - 207 TO 260 MPH WINDS
F5 - 261 TO 318 MPH WINDS

THE TORNADO WAS EMBEDDED IN A LARGER AREA OF DOWNBURST DAMAGE. DOZENS
OF TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND A BARN ROOF WAS BLOWN OFF IN THIS THREE
MILE LONG SWATH OF DOWNBURST DAMAGE.