EF1 Tornado Confirmed in Southwestern Pennsylvania on Thursday
The National Weather Service Confirmed Friday afternoon that an EF1 tornado touched down in Uniontown, Pennsylvania Thursday evening.
Confirmed EF1 tornado in Uniontown occurred last night with winds up to 105 mph. 1st recorded tornado in NWS Pittsburgh area of responsibility during February since 1950.
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) February 16, 2018
The National Weather Service says that this is the 11th tornado to hit Fayette County and third EF1 tornado since 1950.
Below is the summary of the first February tornado since 1950 in our area. This also is the 11th tornado to hit Fayette county and 3rd EF1 since 1950. #pawx pic.twitter.com/W24XuWGGtT
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) February 16, 2018
Strong winds from storms also led to damage across parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
According to the National Weather Service, there were two reports of wind damage from Thursday’s rain and storms, one in Uniontown and the other in East Uniontown, PA.
Lots of storm damage In Uniontown, Fayette Co…GALLATIN AVENUE….BAILEY AVENUE hit hard …homes destroyed …roofs gone …telephone polls leaning like dominoes pic.twitter.com/h6B9Ljx8zN
— BJ Waters (@BRENDASNEWS) February 16, 2018
Here is a look at some of the damage from the storms:
Thursday evening more than 3,000 West Penn Power customers in Fayette County were reportedly left without power as a result of the storms. By mid-morning Friday, the electricity company said 1,100 customers in the county remained cut off, including 700 in Uniontown.
The damage was so severe that the National Weather Service will perform a survey to investigate whether a tornado actually occurred.
For WeatherNation, I am Meteorologist Marcus Walter.