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Tornado in Lancaster County on July 27, 2004 |
See the on-line video presentation by WGAL-TV (Channel 8) from Lancaster, PA, which chronicles this storm damage survey (conducted by State College, NWS, Science and Operations Officer, Richard Grumm), titled "Matt Ritter Tours Tornado Damage With NWS Officials" (Linked by permission)
...STRONG F1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN LANCASTER COUNTY...
A SURVEY TEAM SENT BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE
CONFIRMED TODAY THAT THUNDERSTORMS SPAWNED A STRONG F1 TORNADO
DURING THE EARLY EVENING OF TUESDAY JULY 27 IN CENTRAL LANCASTER
COUNTY.
THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN AROUND 7:02 PM EDT...ON AN AMISH FARM
NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF BYERLAND CHURCH ROAD AND ROUTE 272 JUST
SOUTH OF THE TOWN OF WILLOW STREET. THE TORNADO TRAVELED
EAST-SOUTHEAST FOR 4 MILES...CROSSING ROUTE 222 AND DISSIPATING
SOUTH OF THE TOWN OF REFTON AROUND 7:08 PM.
THE WIDTH OF THE TORNADO DAMAGE WAS ABOUT 100 YARDS...YET THE STRONG
F1 DAMAGE WAS LIMITED TO A PATH ABOUT 30 YARDS WIDE. THE TORNADO
DAMAGED 4 OR 5 HOMES...INCLUDING PARTIALLY REMOVING A ROOF OFF ONE
FARM HOUSE. SEVERAL BARNS AND SILOS WERE ALSO DAMAGED. HUNDREDS OF
TREES WERE KNOCKED DOWN...AND STRONG ROTATION COULD BE SEEN IN CORN
FIELDS WHICH THE TORNADO CROSSED.
THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED AT A TRUCKING COMPANY JUST EAST
OF ROUTE 272. TWO TRACTOR TRAILERS WERE LIFTED INTO THE AIR.
SECURITY VIDEO CAPTURED THE TORNADO AS IT MOVED THROUGH THE TRUCK
YARD.
WINDS WERE ESTIMATED UP TO 110 MPH...PUTTING THIS INTO THE STRONG F1
CATEGORY 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
NO INJURIES OR DEATHS WERE REPORTED AS A RESULT OF THIS STORM.
Please note that the event times from the original statement (issued at 4pm edt, 7/28) were adjusted on this copy to reflect the survey results.
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