Tornado, Schuylkill
- When
- May 11, 2:30 PM EST to 2:35 PM EST
- Where
- Schuylkill County, Pottsville to 5 mi S of Tamaqua
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 10 mi
- Path width
- 440 yd
- Coordinates
- 40.720, -76.120
Tornado in Pennsylvania, May 11, 1996
An F1 tornado (73-112 mph) moved northeast across small towns to the northeast of Pottsville causing damage along a 10 mile path from near New Philadelphia through Brockton and Mary-D before ending at Rabiit Run Reservoir just south of Tamaqua. Most of the damage was to trees.
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
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS CTP wrote it up.
An F1 tornado (73-112 mph) moved northeast across small towns to the northeast of Pottsville causing damage along a 10 mile path from near New Philadelphia through Brockton and Mary-D before ending at Rabiit Run Reservoir just south of Tamaqua. Damage occurred along two separate 5 mile segments of the path, running parallel to route 209 from New Philadelphia to just south of Tuscarora on the north side of Sharp Mountain, and from south of Tuscarora to a mile south of Tamaqua on the south side of the mountain.Most of the damage was to trees. A roof was blown off a home, tiles were removed from a church roof and some siding was torn from a home in Brockton. A tree fell lengthwise completely demolishing one trailer, and another tree split a second mobile home in two in Mary-D. Heaviest damage was at Rabbit Run Reservoir where tree tops were torn off. Fishermen had their cars buried under the debris, but were unhurt.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 11, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 11, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 11, 1996
- Damaging Wind in New York, May 11, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Virginia, May 11, 1996
- Hail in North Carolina, May 11, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 11, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 11, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 11, 1996
- Flash Flood in Ohio, May 11, 1996
- Flood in Ohio, May 11 to 13, 1996
- Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 11, 1996
More
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Pennsylvania, 1996Warnings in Pennsylvania, May 1996
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: 5570683.