Alabama and Oklahoma have recorded the greatest number of tornadoes with a rating of 5 on the Fujita/Enhanced Fujita Scale, each with seven such . I served as assistant forecaster to lead forecaster Rich Anthony (now retired). The tornado destroyed nearly the entire town of Wheatland, and seven more people were killed. May 31, 1985 Tornado Outbreak. The second funnel cloud touched down at 6:50 p.m. and cut a half-mile wide swath through Hubbard Township, crossing into Pennsylvania and continuing its devastation through Wheatland, Hermitage and into Lackawannock Township. A well-built farmhouse was leveled with little debris left. There was a great deal of damage north of Corry, but no one was seriously hurt. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ERIE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING UNTIL 530 PM FOR THESE COUNTIES IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIASOUTHERN ERIE A TORNADO WAS SIGHTED BY STATE POLICE NEAR PENNSIDESOUTH OF ALBION IN ERIE COUNTY AT 505 PMMOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. This page was last edited on 14 April 2023, at 00:42. Clouds associated with this front gave way to sunshine during the morning hours allowing temperatures to soar. [9] Outside the United States and Canada, six tornadoes have been officially rated F5/EF5/T10+ or equivalent: two each in France, Germany, and one in Italy and Argentina. [14][15], Prior to 1950, assessments of F5 tornadoes are based primarily on the work of Thomas P. Grazulis. Reports of touchdowns north, south, east, west. To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin. The sounding of Figure 6 shows a small capping inversion near the surface and an inversion from roughly 850 mb to 550 mb. Several F2 and one F1 tornado were also reported. At 18Z (2:00 pm EDT), the cold front was entering Ontario (Figure 8). References, Additional Links, and Acknowledgements 1985: A Tornado Goes Through the Neighborhood! Hermitage, Pennsylvania Mennonite Disaster Services, which promised to stay for a year, finished its repair and cleanup work in the Atlantic area before Thanksgiving. Supplemental Information from our neighbors at WFO CTP: in meteorology from 1992-1996, and in the summer of 1995, worked at the National Severe Storms Lab and participated in the VORTEX project--at the time, the biggest tornado field project ever. It was taken by a salesman from Erie who later gave his undeveloped film to Buhl Clarke of Hermitage. I was real happy it was Friday -- I had been up since 2:30 AM and was as grateful for the chance to catch up on sleep over the weekend. Jun. PORTIONS OF EASTERN OHIO This following two figures from Markowski show 1, the presence of the EML in the 7pm May 31st Pittsburgh sounding and 2, the formation and subsequent migration of the EML across the United States. This was about the only structure untouched. Dr. Greg Forbes (then Penn State faculty and my thesis advisor; now Severe Weather Expert for The Weather Channel) was operating the radar and calling in observations to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh. EMLs act as a lid in the atmosphere, stopping convection from occurring unless the lid can be removed or sufficient lift is present. For much of the area, this Friday was the last day of the school year, but by early afternoon it felt more like the middle of July than the end of May. Atlantic was just about totally wiped out. I remember driving north into the Moshannon area into a nasty thunderstorm with heavy rain, a lot of lightning, and some wind. One station I was updating was WKZA in Kane, a daytime only AM station (it no longer exists). You can help by participating in discussions about tornadoes for this list. I arrived at the office about 3:30 PM to a cloudless sky, but warm and humid conditions. We were unable to track a subsequent, deadly tornado that roared through the Elimsport/Watsontown areas. Nine people were killed in the business district of Niles. The phone booth next to it was not touched and still working! I represented the 65thlegislative district which included all of Warren and Forest Counties and the northern third of Venango County. Timber losses totaled 100 million. From that point on through the evening, weather conditions worsened. The initial thunderstorms in the state occurred between 3 and 4 p.m. near Cleveland. The strength of the front and the degree of instability lead to the erosion or breaking of the cap and thunderstorms exploded with violent results. Many homes in town were destroyed, some of which were swept away with very little debris left. The tornado near Kinsman (Trumbull County) was produced by the parent thunderstorm that later spawned the deadly Atlantic tornado in Crawford County, Pennsylvania. However, in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, conditions usually arent as favorable for tornadoes. Few visible scars remain of that Friday night in 1985 At 4:20 PM SELS issued the tornado watch 211, valid at 5pm. As the tornado continued east along its forty-one mile path of destruction, it crossed the state line and slammed into the community of Wheatland located in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. At least 24 people died after this powerful twister devastated the . The peak period in the central United States is early spring, with the crest of the wave gradually rippling eastward later in the spring and in June. That summer experience exposed me to careers in scientific research; I realized for the first time that I could actually make a living studying tornadoes. I remember waking up to the thunder and looking out the window. We flew over Kane which was directly hit. Full, unedited video of a rare, western Pennsylvania, F5 tornado filmed by Ron Alfredo as it made it's way through his parents-in-law neighborhood on may 31, 1985. W. VA, PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN LAKE ERIE, FROM 500 PM EDT UNTIL 1100 PM THIS FRIDAY, AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE, IN THESE AREAS. Low around 35F. I used up my entire career severe tornado quota on my first severe weather shift as a lead forecaster. That was the day I found my calling. The funnel clouds ripped homes from their foundations; tossed cars and trucks like twigs; toppled power poles; and twisted the tops off trees. I got much of my information from the disc jockeys themselves beforethey put me on the air. Unseasonably warm and humid air moved northward into Pennsylvania and much of the eastern U.S. ahead of the cold front, setting the stage for strong thunderstorms and tornadoes. The Salvation Army and American Red Cross spearheaded major drives to aid disaster victims. Each rapidly moving storm laid down a significant outflow boundary and resulted in new cell formation further to the south of the previous storms. I was fascinated bythe power of the atmosphere. This process continued from 4pm to about 8pm resulting in serious tornado activity across the entire Erie WSO warning area. In 30 years, a whole new generation has been born and has grown into adulthood. [4][nb 1]. Still in shock. The second F4 that went through Corry in Eastern Erie County touched down at 5:25 PM. State College, PA328 Innovation Blvd, Suite 330State College, PA 16803(814)954-6440Comments? In 1987 we went on a family picnic with him to Parker Dam and he took me on a little road trip through Moshannon State Park. The odds against that happening in those areas are incalculable," said Harold Brooks, senior scientist at that National Severe Storms Laboratory. I then rode in the PSP helicopter with him as we toured the areas near Dempseytown in Venango County that were hard hit by a tornado. The Ohio-Pennsylvania Tornadoes of May 31, 1985. Thinking that someone might need help, we circled over the area for several minutes trying to locate someone but were never able to find anyone. It splintered houses and dropped crushed cars and ribbons of sheet metal for miles. The scale ranks tornadoes from F0 to F5, with F0 being the least intense and F5 being the most intense. In all, 43 tornadoes touched down between about 4 and 11 p.m. that Friday in an unstable weather front stretching from Ontario, Canada, through New York, Pennsylvania and into southern Ohio.. Nineteen buildings on two farms reportedly "vanished". As the first reports of damage trickled in to the NWS offices in the area, it quickly became clear that a tornado outbreak of an unprecedented magnitude was taking place across the region. No earlier tornadoes will be reclassified on the Enhanced Fujita scale, and no new tornadoes in the United States will be rated on the original Fujita scale. While watching television the night of the storms, I remember seeing a national news report about the tornado outbreak. I interviewed many folks and heard story after story after incredible story. An F5 tornado rated years ago is still an F5, but the wind speed associated with the tornado may have been somewhat less than previously estimated. Twenty-one tornadoes tracked across Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania during the evening of May 31st. The tornado finally lifted south of the town of Mercer after damaging or destroying more than a thousand homes. Many of us have wondered if the Moshannon tornado reached F5 strength at some point, but it moved only through unpopulated areas (fortunately), so no evidence of F5 damage was found. Submit a Storm Report Most dont. However, I do have a very clear memory of the weather that day. Based on the 00Z LFM run, I, along with SELS Lead Forecaster Larry Wilson, decidedthat if thunderstorms did develop, that they would go strongly severe across the areahencethe Moderate Risk. All of us were heartbroken for him. Office severe weather training presentation. I checked in and was told victims were coming in. 1985 Tornado Outbreak Revisited [PowerPoint presentation]. This tornado impacted several farms, including one where a "fine new residence" was swept completely away. Mentioned as a possible F5 by Grazulis. Forbes said he would not rule out a recurrence of 1985 in the next 50 years or so. 20 farms were destroyed, some of which were obliterated. Each red triangle is the location of a tornado that caused EF5 or F5 damage. The Allegheny National Forest has recovered as the downed trees were harvested and new trees have grown to replace them. I was escorted to the helicopter, given a helmet so I could communicate with the crew, and given a seat next to a rear door so I had a window. The tornado impacted several cities (Figure 15), namely Newton Falls and Niles in Ohio and Wheatland in Pennsylvania. Most of these tornadoes are low-impact EF-1 tornados, causing minimal damage. FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. The truth is that we dont fully understand, says the storm center. Pennsylvania Tornadoes This data was collection of Tornadoes from over 54 years ago. PORTIONS OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA Its victims (both people and cattle) were reportedly carried up to half a mile. In fact, a few were throwing a party that night. They are a measure of the conditions (temperature, dewpoints, wind speed and direction) above the surface of the Earth. Thats just one reason why the 1985 outbreak was so shocking. I forecast forradio stations all over the United States and Canada with a few in PA. Retrieved from: https://www.weather.gov/cle/event_19850531_85outbreakNational Weather Service Cleveland, Ohio (2019).