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Severe Thunderstorms of May 29, 1998

The atmosphere was primed for severe weather, as dew points were already in the upper 50's to around 60 at dawn! They ended up rising to the mid 60's during the afternoon, with air temperatures rising well into the 80's, and some areas touching 90 or 91. The morning was sunshine filled, but very hazy, making the sky a whitish color instead of blue. As we weather enthusiasts know, sunshine on an unstable atmosphere is very bad (or good, depending on you point-of-view). The sun irritates the already unstable atmosphere, resulting in cumulus clouds, showers and thunderstorms (i.e., convection).

The SPC had all of Pennsylvania and New York (not to mention surrounding areas) under a slight risk of severe thunderstorms. Surface based CAPE values were high, and LI's were negative.... -4 to -6. There was not much directional shear, so tornadoes were not a great threat, although possible with any severe thunderstorm. The freezing level in the atmosphere was not terribly low either, pointing away from widespread large hail. This leaves only one other significant severe threat -- damaging thunderstorm winds. And that's what hit.

In the early afternoon, a severe thunderstorm watch was issued by the SPC for portions of eastern Ohio, and most of western and central Pennsylvania. A svr tstm watch was already in effect for all of central New York. (you can see all watches from this event for the northeast US here). The visible satellite image around 2:45 pm showed a line of thunderstorms forming from southwest NY through northwest PA, and radar confirmed this... with DBZ's in excess of 60 in southern NY. As the next hour went by, storms formed ahead of an advancing cold front in northeast OH and northwest PA. The NWS in Cleveland issued warnings for this. Throughout the afternoon and early evening, warnings were issued for many counties in PA and surrounding areas. Widespread wind damage was reported throughout central and northeastern PA, and much of upstate NY... from Buffalo to Albany. Scattered wind damage occurred in parts of eastern and western PA, and east central, west central, and northern OH. The following paragraphs will give damage reports from OH, PA, and NY. No tornadoes were reported with these severe thunderstorms, but thunderstorm wind damage resembled that of F0/F1. Unfortunately, a couple deaths and injuries were inflicted in upstate New York.

Ohio Damage--

Wind damage from thunderstorms, mostly trees and power lines downed, was reported in a few locations across Logan, Delaware, Union, Franklin, Darke, Licking, Miami, Clark, Van Wert, Knox, Stark, Mahoning, Coshocton, Tuscarawas, Columbiana, Jefferson, Carroll, counties. However, not all damage was downed trees and lines. Windows were blown out of buildings in Perry Heights, Stark county. In Bladensburg (Knox county), a shed were thrown onto a car and a house had its roof ripped off by thunderstorm winds (numerous trees were also blown down, as you might imagine). Roofs were blown off mobile homes and barns in eastern Darke county, by 60-70 mph thunderstorm winds. An outbuilding was destroyed in Hanoverton (Columbiana county). Large hail of dime to quarter size fell in a few locations as well. A little paint damage to cars was reported in one location from dime size hail.

Pennsylvania Damage--

Across western PA, trees, trees limbs, and power lines were down in several locations, including just south of, and in, Butler (Butler county), where some large trees were blown down. 60-70 mph thunderstorm winds were reported in Blairsville, Indiana county, where trees were downed. Other areas reporting trees, limbs, or lines down include: Corry (Erie county), Meadville, Cochranton (Crawford county), Ford City (Armstrong county), Connellsville and Brownsville (Fayette county), Creekside (Indiana county), North Washington (Westmoreland county), and Mount Lebanon and Bethel Park (Allegheny county). Also, numerous trees and lines were downed by the severe storms across Washington county. Dime size hail fell in Punxsutawney (Jefferson county).

The most damage occurred across the central third of PA... in CTP's (State College NWS) CWA. In McKean county, a tree was blown down onto a car in Rew, and trees and power lines were downed in Kane. Many trees were snapped/uprooted between Smethport and Port Allegheny, along route 6/59. Numerous tree limbs and power lines were blown down in Emporium, Cameron county, while trees were downed in Coudersport, Potter county. Thunderstorm winds were strong enough, estimated around 70-75 mph, to knock a mobile home off its foundation outside of Mansfield (on Orebed road) in Tioga county. Numerous trees were also downed in the area. In Williamsport, Lycoming county, numerous trees, limbs, and lines were blown down across the city. Roads were blocked. In Clinton county, thunderstorm winds ripped through Mill Hall, Lock Haven, and surrounding areas. Tree damage, in the form of large limbs and whole trees down, was widespread in that area. Also, thunderstorm winds ripped off the roof of the Clinton Country Club, and half the roof of St. Pauls church. The club was in Mill Hall and the church was outside of Mill Hall, in Porter Township. Both buildings suffered water damage as the rain poured in the now roof-less buildings. The church roof broke into dozens of pieces and landed 200-300 feet away in the cemetery next door, knocking over a headstone. Thunderstorm winds at the country club and church were estimated around 70-75 mph. Southeast of this area, in Beech Creek, a tree fell on and completely through a mobile home... slicing it in two. A business close to the demolished mobile home also received roof damage.

Some trees were also reported down in Coalport, Clearfield, Dubois (Clearfield county), Ebensburg (Cambria county), Holidaysburg (Blair county), Smithfield, Huntingdon (Huntingdon county), and Somerset (Somerset county). Numerous trees and power lines were downed in within the city of Altoona (Blair county).

In Centre county, tree damage was also widespread, mainly across the northern and eastern parts of the county. In Bellefonte, numerous trees were downed, with a couple falling onto houses and cars. A small structure was also blown apart. Although Doppler radar did not indicate any sign of tornadic activity, and a storm survey by the NWS revealed thunderstorm wind damage, a trained SKYWARN Spotter reported a tornado. This tornado was a gustnado and it is more than likely that winds inside it were not damaging, and probably below 50 mph (low F0 intensity). The tree damage was caused by thunderstorm downburst winds around 60 mph, and not the gustnado. The damage patterns did not indicate tornadic damage, but rather downburst damage.

South central PA and the mid and lower Susquehanna valley wasn't spared either. A few trees and power lines were downed in Danville (Montour county), Bloomsburg (Columbia county), Lewisburg (Union county), Sunbury, Northumberland (Northumberland county), Frackville, Cressona (Schuylkill county), Mount Gretna (Lebanon county), Harrisburg, Millersburg (Dauphin county), Columbia (Lancaster county), Pleasant Hall (Franklin county), Fountain Dale (Adams county), and Manchester and Dillsburg (York county). Lewisburg in Union county probably wins first place in the mid Susquehanna valley for having the most trees down. Trees were also downed across Perry and Cumberland counties, and the thunderstorm winds blew the roof right off a house near Newville. A tree was blown onto a car in Hershey (Dauphin county).

Like mentioned above, large hail was limited in PA. Still, two places reported large hail in CTP's CWA. Dime size hail fell in Shunk (Sullivan county), and nickel size hail in Millersburg (Dauphin county).

Damage in northeast PA was fairly widespread too. Troy, New Albany, East Smithfield, Towanda (Bradford county), Forest Lake, Rushville, Susquehanna (Susquehanna county), Falls, Evans Falls, Osterhout (Wyoming county), Cherry Ridge (Wayne county), and Matamoras (Pike county) reported trees and power lines downed by the thunderstorm winds. On the north side of Scranton (Lackawanna county), many large trees and power lines were blown down across streets. One limb fell on and damaged the roof of a sport utility vehicle. Luzerne county was the hardest hit in northeast PA, as a bow-echo thunderstorm complex moved across a good part of the county. Trees and power lines were downed across the county, including in Dallas, Mountain Top, and Kingston. Several of the trees uprooted near Mountain Top were large. The thunderstorm winds outside of Mountain Top were quite damaging. Roofs and siding were torn off of several houses. The thunderstorm produced a microburst with winds estimated as high as 90 mph. Damage totals in this one area were around $100,000. In the Pikes Creek area, along route 118, a business and home received considerable damage from the thunderstorm winds. In Hanover, the strong thunderstorm winds blew a 30 foot diameter, 15 ton, pipe across the San Souci highway! It narrowly missed cars, but destroyed a fence, guard rail, and utility pole. Street flooding became severe enough to close route 118 north of Sweet Valley.

In southeast PA, damage was much more scattered and minor. Trees and/or power lines were reported down in Boyertown, Hamburg, Leesport, Mohrsville, Topton (Berks county), Slatington (Lehigh county), Bath, Easton, Nazareth (Northampton county), West Chester (Chester county), and between Ridley Park and Upland (Delaware county).

The NWS in State College (CTP) issued this LSR and PNS.

New York Damage--

Wind damage from the severe thunderstorms occurred across western and central NY. Countless trees, many large, were snapped or uprooted. Power lines were also downed, cutting electrical service to thousands of people. Numerous cars and houses were damaged by falling trees. A thunderstorm wind gust of 73 mph was recorded in Attica (Wyoming county), while a 63 mph gust was clocked in West Monroe (Oswego county), and a 64 mph gust was reported in Grahamsville (Sullivan county). In downtown Syracuse, thunderstorm winds knocked down trees and power lines. A tree limb flying through the air struck and killed a man. Trees and limbs littered the streets in the metropolitan area. The airport nearby recorded a 57 mph thunderstorm wind gust. Outside of Syracuse, another man was shocked by a falling wire. Probably the worst damage from these thunderstorms occurred in northern Broome, southern Chenango, and Otsego counties. Thunderstorm downburst winds of 70-90 mph downed a large number of trees in these areas, with many roads closed.

Another hard hit area was parts of Montgomery, Fulton, Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties. State route 9N was closed in a few areas due to tree debris on the highway. Dozens of houses and cars were damaged by falling trees. In North Winfield (Herkimer county), the damaging thunderstorm winds blew over a silo. In Johnstown (Fulton county), 2 people were injured from falling/flying tree limbs as they were ripped out of trees by the thunderstorm winds. Another injury occurred in Amsterdam (Montgomery county) as a result of a falling tree limb. In Ellenville (Ulster county), the second severe thunderstorm death occurred as a tree limb fell on a man.

Large hail, consisting of dime, nickel, and quarter size was reported in a couple/few locations in NY. A few thousand dollars in hail damage was reported in the isolated locations that it did occur. In addition, one man in Gainesville (Wyoming county) was struck and injured by lightning as he tried to walk from his tractor to his car during a thunderstorm.

Go here for a complete listing of all images/text available for this event.


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