Three Tornadoes Hit Crawford County, PA

October 2, 2018

Event Synopsis

A warm front associated with a developing low over northern Illinois moved through northern Ohio and Pennsylvania late Monday night into Tuesday morning. This allowed strong southerly flow to bring abnormally warm and moist air during the day on Tuesday, with temperatures generally in the upper 70s to low 80s. This created moderate instability during the daytime hours. With strong low-level wind shear also in place, the environment was primed for severe weather and especially tornadoes. The low pressure lifted northeast to southern Ontario by 12 PM, with the associated cold front moving eastward across Ohio. This cold front initiated the day’s first thunderstorms around 1-2 PM in Ashtabula and Erie County. These storms quickly strengthened into supercells, with the first tornado beginning at 2:43 PM in Crawford County near Conneautville, PA.  This was the strongest tornado of the day, with a nursing home being badly damage and 1 injury reported. A second tornado touched down just 20 minutes later at 3:05 PM in Crawford County near Blooming Valley, PA.  A third tornado touched down around 3:32 PM near Steuben Township, PA.

Tornado #1 (Near Conneautville, PA)

START LOCATION...CONNEAUTVILLE IN CRAWFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
END LOCATION...EAST OF CONNEAUTVILLE IN CRAWFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 
DATE...OCTOBER 2, 2018 
ESTIMATED TIME...2:33 PM EDT 
MAXIMUM EF- SCALE RATING...EF-2 
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...115 MPH 
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...50 YARDS 
PATH LENGTH...4.1 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...41.7513/-80.3558 
ENDING LAT/LON...41.7441/-80.2694
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...1

...SUMMARY...
A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR CONNEAUTVILLE AND TRACKED EASTWARD
NEAR HIGHWAY 198. THE TORNADO HEAVILY DAMAGED A DUPLEX AND NURSING
HOME. THE TORNADO KNOCKED DOWN AND SNAPPED NUMEROUS TREES IN THE
AREA. THE TORNADO ALSO DAMAGED SEVERAL OTHER HOMES AND STRUCTURES
BEFORE LIFTING NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF CARR ROAD AND NORRISVILLE
ROAD. THERE WAS ONE MINOR INJURY REPORTED. THIS STORM SURVEY HAS 
BEEN COMPLETED FOR THIS TORNADO TRACK.

Tornado #2 (Near Blooming Valley, PA)

START LOCATION...NORTH OF BLOOMING VALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA 
END LOCATION...EAST OF BLOOMING VALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA 
DATE...OCTOBER 2, 2018 
ESTIMATED TIME...3:05 PM EDT 
MAXIMUM EF- SCALE RATING... EF-1 
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...105 MPH 
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...75 
YARDS PATH LENGTH...3.5 MILES 
BEGINNING LAT/LON...41.7284/-80.0378
ENDING LAT/LON...41.7178/-79.9712
* FATALITIES...0
* INJURIES...0

...SUMMARY...
THE EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR PRICE ROAD IN RURAL CRAWFORD
COUNTY JUST NORTH OF BLOOMING VALLEY, PENNSYLVANIA. THE TORNADO
TRACKED EAST-SOUTHEAST TOWARDS HIGHWAY 77 AND THE RICHMOND
TOWNSHIP AREA. THERE WERE NUMEROUS TREES UPROOTED OR SNAPPED ALONG
THE PATH IN A HEAVILY FOREST AREA. AT LEAST ONE HOME HAD MINOR TO
MODERATE ROOF AND EXTERIOR DAMAGE ALONG OREGON CORNERS ROAD. THE
TORNADO LIFTED NEAR NORTH RICHMOND ROAD AND HIGHWAY 77. THE
TORNADO HAD A PATH LENGTH AROUND 3.5 MILES AND A WIDTH OF 75
YARDS.

Above photo courtesy of the Civil Air Patrol.

Tornado #3 (Near Steuben Township, PA)

Start Location...1.2 west-northwest of Steuben Township, Pennsylvania
End Location...2 miles east-northeast of Steuben Township, Pennsylvania
Date...October 2, 2018
Estimated Time...3:32 PM EDT
Maximum EF-Scale Rating...EF-1
Estimated Maximum Wind Speed...90 mph
Maximum Path Width...25 yards
Path Length...3.0 miles
Beginning Lat/Lon...41.69/-79.84
Ending Lat/Lon...41.69/-79.79
* Fatalities...None.
* Injuries... None.

...Summary...
An EF-1 tornado touched down just west-northwest of Steuben
Township center on Le Beof Trail Rd and traveled east crossing
State Gamelands, Tryonville Rd and Mystic Park Rd before ending
near Dutch Street. Intermittent tree damage in the form of snapped
and uprooted trees occurred. There was damage to one barn as
well. The tornado had a path length of approximately 3.0 miles and
a width of 25 yards.

A special thank you to the Emergency Management Director of
Crawford County, PA Allen Clark, who helped with damage surveys
and spent over a week gathering damage data from the people
impacted by these storms.

Photos above courtesy of Laura Hopkins