NWS: Tornado Brought 105 MPH Winds, Destruction to Parker

Aly Delp

Aly Delp

Published June 18, 2019 5:00 am
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PARKER, Pa. (EYT) — The National Weather Service of Pittsburgh has released the preliminary report on the damage survey from the EF1 tornado that occurred in Parker on Sunday.

(Photos courtesy Station 39 firefighter)

The tornado was estimated to have begun around 6:18 p.m. and continued until 6:23 p.m. in Parker. The estimated maximum wind speed was 105 miles per hour, and the path of the tornado was measured to be about 1.56 miles long with a maximum width of 400 yards.

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Courtesy Station 39 firefighter

The initial damage began on Parker Pike Road where nearly 100 hardwood and softwood trees were either uprooted, snapped at the trunk, or broken halfway up. As the storm moved into the city of Parker, along the border of Armstrong and Butler Counties, structure damage was reported, including a storage trailer that was overturned, an exterior detached garage that lost most of its roof, and the tanker truck wash, which had a wall entirely blown out. There was also extensive tree damage with trees on homes along Century Street.

Station 39 firefighter 3

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There were no injuries.

The storm began to lift as it approached the Allegheny River, according to the report.

Although there were additional reports of trees down several miles to the east, along Concord Church Road, in Clarion County, including three large oak trees that were uprooted, the additional damage was concluded to be a result of straight line wind (greater than 65 miles per hour) rather than the tornado.

According to the National Weather Service, this was the 14th documented tornado in Armstrong County and the 25th in Butler County since 1881. The last tornado in Armstrong County, which occurred on April 28, 2002, was an EF0 (wind speeds of 65 to 85 miles per hour), as was the last tornado in Butler County, which occurred on July 10, 2017.

The National Weather Service of Pittsburgh has already recorded eleven tornadoes so far this calendar year in their warning area, which is well above the annual average of five per calendar year.

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