Tornado and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, March 22, 1955

Name: Tornado and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, March 22, 1955
Start: 1955-03-22T05:30
End: 1955-03-22T14:30
Location: Pennsylvania

March 22, 1955 · 5 events in 4 counties and zones

4 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $250,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: March 22, 5:30 AM CST
Where: Jefferson County
Coordinates: 41.200, -79.080

Thunderstorm Wind, Indiana

When: March 22, 6:00 AM CST
Where: Indiana County
Measured: 92 kt (106 mph)
Coordinates: 40.500, -79.180

Thunderstorm Wind, Allegheny

When: March 22, 6:30 AM CST
Where: Allegheny County
Measured: 78 kt (90 mph)
Coordinates: 40.280, -80.000

Thunderstorm Wind, Allegheny

When: March 22, 6:30 AM CST
Where: Allegheny County
Measured: 85 kt (98 mph)
Coordinates: 40.500, -80.000

Tornado, Chester

When: March 22, 2:30 PM CST
Where: Chester County
Rating: F3
Path length: 9.6 mi
Path width: 600 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 39.970, -75.620

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Chester	1955-03-22				Direct

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1955 Every state in 1955 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Pennsylvania, 1955

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10117752, 10117753, 10117754, 10117755, 10117756.