Tornado and Damaging Wind in Pennsylvania, March 9, 1998

A line of severe thunderstorms moved through Berks County Pennsylvania the evening of March 9th and knocked down tree limbs and power lines from Spring Township northeast through Kutztown. The worst damage occurred when the thunderstorm dropped a weak tornado (F1 on the Fujita Scale) in Blandon located in southern Maiden Creek Township a little after 730 p.m. EST. The tornado touched down on Pennsylvania State Route 73 (Main Street) in Blandon. It moved northeast nearly along Willow Creek and parallel to U.S. Route 222. Homes along Cornerstone Drive in the Maiden Creek Estates development were nearest the path and had the most widespread damage. The tornado lifted as it passed over Pleasant Hill Road. More than half of its two mile path length was through wooded areas and this reduced the damage that was done. No injuries were reported.Two houses (one on Main Street and one on Pleasant Hill Road) lost sections of their roofs. The house on Pleasant Hill Road also had its front door knocked out and its garage crushed by a fallen tree. The tornado tore out an entire section of a second story wall from a house on Cornerstone Drive and embedded its siding into the ground and and sides of other homes. About an additional 30 houses mainly on the east side of Cornerstone Drive suffered minor to moderate damage as the tornado leveled sheds, tossed playhouses and swing sets and ripped siding and shingles. Storage sheds were seen bouncing through backyards. Numerous trees, including fruit trees, evergreens and maples were either snapped or uprooted. Traffic signs were ravaged and twisted. About 700 customers throughout the county lost power because of the tornado, severe thunderstorms and lightning strikes. They were concentrated in Blandon, Kutztown, Richmond Township and Wyomissing. There were also at least five separate reports of small hail with the line of thunderstorms.