Tornado, Butler
- When
- July 20, 12:00 PM CST
- Where
- Butler County
- Rating
- F2
- Path width
- 33 yd
- Property damage
- $250,000
- Coordinates
- 40.850, -80.000
Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, July 20, 1981
7 thunderstorm wind, 2 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $275,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 9
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
7 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm Wind, Westmoreland
- When
- July 20, 1:45 PM CST
- Where
- Westmoreland County
- Measured
- 52 kt (60 mph)
- Coordinates
- 40.280, -79.400
Thunderstorm Wind, Allegheny
- When
- July 20, 1:55 PM CST
- Where
- Allegheny County
- Measured
- 55 kt (63 mph)
- Coordinates
- 40.430, -79.980
Thunderstorm Wind, Franklin
- When
- July 20, 2:00 PM CST
- Where
- Franklin County
- Coordinates
- 39.980, -77.800
Tornado, Northampton
- When
- July 20, 3:30 PM CST
- Where
- Northampton County
- Rating
- F2
- Path length
- 4.1 mi
- Path width
- 67 yd
- Property damage
- $25,000
- Coordinates
- 40.850, -75.150
Thunderstorm Wind, Monroe
- When
- July 20, 3:30 PM CST
- Where
- Monroe County
- Coordinates
- 40.980, -75.200
Thunderstorm Wind, Adams
- When
- July 20, 3:30 PM CST
- Where
- Adams County
- Coordinates
- 39.880, -77.230
Thunderstorm Wind, Lehigh
- When
- July 20, 3:30 PM CST
- Where
- Lehigh County
- Coordinates
- 40.580, -75.630
Thunderstorm Wind, York
- When
- July 20, 4:10 PM CST
- Where
- York County
- Coordinates
- 39.800, -76.980
What these are
- 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.
- 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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, July 20, 1981
- Tornado and Hail in Oklahoma, July 20, 1981
- Tornado in New Jersey, July 20, 1981
- Tornadoes and Hail in Wisconsin, July 20, 1981
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, July 20, 1981
- Damaging Winds in Kentucky, July 20, 1981
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Indiana, July 20, 1981
- Damaging Winds in Iowa, July 20, 1981
- Damaging Winds in Maryland, July 20, 1981
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, July 20, 1981
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, July 20, 1981
- Tornado in Minnesota, July 20, 1981
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1981Every state in 1981This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Pennsylvania, 1981
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: 10116348, 10116349, 10116350, 10116351, 10116352, 10116353, 10116354, 10116355, 10116356.