Tornado in Pennsylvania, August 16, 1997

41/24N, 76/37W to 41/24N, 76/35W. A large area of downburst winds struck sections of Sullivan County from Hillsgrove east across Eagles Mere to Laporte and Dushore. While most of the damage was straight line wind, at least two locations in the Eagles Mere area had evidence of rotation indicative of a tornado. The first path with apparent rotation began near High Knob in Wyoming State Forest. The storm moved east taking down trees on an intermittent path for 5 miles into Eagles Mere.The second path with evident rotation crossed Route 42 north of the airport and moved east crossing Laporte Avenue on the south side of the borough of Eagles Mere. Again, although most of the damage was downburst in origin, there were small areas with good indication of rotation in the winds.Eyewitness accounts told of rotating debris, and several remarked of hearing of funnel cloud reports, but no visual witness of a funnel was located. Nearly all of the damage was to trees, although one tree fell and demolished a vehicle at the beach on the north side of Eagles Mere Lake. Fortunately, all boats on the lake had been called in because of the early alerts, and trips on the motor launch that carries passengers around the lake had been suspended for the day because of the threat of severe weather.