Tornado in Pennsylvania, April 1, 1998

A weak tornado (F1 on the Fujita Scale) briefly touched down in North Coventry Township near the Coventry Mall and Pennsylvania State Route 724. It remained on the ground for about half a mile and its path width was about 100 yards. One construction worker suffered minor injuries when some debris was thrown into his face as he was diving under a guardrail. No other injuries were reported. Property damage including damage to the Coventry Mall was estimated at $25,000. About eight homes, mainly on the south side of Pearl Place suffered minor damage. After the tornado touched down near the mall, it moved northeast and crossed Pennsylvania State Route 100. The tornado moved between Pearl Place to its north and Pennsylvania State Route 724 to its south and lifted just before it reached Kline Avenue. The tornado passed just to the north of the North Coventry Elementary School. At the mall, the tornado pulled open several doors and took two clothing racks from a J.C. Penney Store. It knocked down several poles, damaged a 10 foot by 25 foot privacy wall, blew a large trash container through a concrete retaining wall and uprooted eight trees. The tornado also damaged the roof of a Pizza Hut Restaurant, snapped two steel power line towers and cracked seven other utility poles on Pennsylvania State Route 724. As the tornado crossed Pennsylvania State Route 100, it hurled construction debris and street signs and injured one worker. An exit sign was found half a mile away. It then cut a path behind the homes on the south side of Pearl Place. About 40 trees were damaged in the area. One home had numerous shingles pulled from it, another had a tree leaning on it and a third had a shed destroyed. About five other homes also suffered minor damage. Pennsylvania State Routes 724 and 100 remained closed due to debris clean-up through 11 p.m. EST that evening.