Weather service: Alle-Kiski Valley hit by 2 tornadoes Wednesday
Two tornadoes touched down early Wednesday in the Alle-Kiski Valley, snapping trees, blowing in windows and ripping shingles off houses, meteorologists with the National Weather Service said.
No one was reported injured.
The bulk of the damage happened in a wooded area along Days Run Road in Frazer.
The first tornado hit Tarentum at 1:11 a.m. and lasted for about seven minutes, with wind speeds up to 100 mph, a weather service analysis reported Wednesday night. That’s considered an EF1 tornado. It traveled 4.1 miles and had a peak width of about 150 yards and traveled into New Kensington.
The second struck at 1:17 a.m. and lasted only a minute, with winds up to 70 mph. It was measured as an EF0 tornado. Its path was about one-quarter of a mile and its maximum width was about 50 yards.
Maps of the specific paths of the pair of tornadoes were not available late Wednesday.
Meteorologist Matthew Kramar was sent to investigate by himself because of social distancing requirements under the covid-19 pandemic.
He started his investigation of the tornado in the mid-afternoon along Days Run Road in the area of Frazer and East Deer, outside Deer Lakes Park. Experts can tell the difference between damage caused by the rotational winds of a twister versus more typical straight-line winds, so visiting the scene can remove any doubt.
“My job now is to determine whether that debris was being lofted by a tornado, or whether that debris was being lofted by straight line winds,” Kramar said.
The weather service had detected what it calls a “tornadic debris signature” over New Kensington around 1:10 a.m. Also known as a debris ball, the signature is unmistakable, caused by the debris kicked up during a tornado, meteorologist Lee Hendricks said earlier in the day.
“It’s a fairly blatant signature when you see it, it really sticks out like a sore thumb,” Hendricks said.
They have plenty of damage to assess beyond New Kensington. Heavy winds caused widespread destruction in Ligonier Township, Unity and other communities, without a tornado in sight.
“Damage is damage, no matter whether it’s a tornado … or if it’s a straight line,” said Westmoreland County Emergency Management Director Roland “Bud” Mertz. “We’re focused on conducting the assessments based on damage, not whether it’s a tornado or high winds.”
Hendricks said tornadoes — at least the moderate ones usually experienced in this area — are often no more damaging than wind gusts.
“Thunderstorm downbursts can be at least as devastating as a tornado,” he said. “Having your house damaged by a tornado or a down burst, one is just as bad as another.”
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.