Tornado in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998

Name: Tornado in Pennsylvania, May 31, 1998
Start: 1998-05-31T23:30
End: 1998-05-31T23:35
Location: Pennsylvania

May 31, 1998 · NWS CTP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 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

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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.

The radar

The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 135 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:28 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Lancaster

When: May 31, 11:30 PM EST to 11:35 PM EST
Where: Lancaster County, Quarryville to Ninepoints
Rating: F2
Path length: 7 mi
Path width: 880 yd
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 39.900, -76.170

The tornado struck about 12:30am EDT in the early morning hours of Monday, June 1st. Initial touchdown was just south of Quarryville. The tornado traveled east along a 7 mile path to Ninepoints. Damage was most extensive in the Ninepoints area and was rated an F2 intensity (112 to 157 mph). The width of the F2 damage was probably 100 to 200 yards wide with lesser damage extending out to 1/2 mile. At least 6 homes had significant damage. One home had the roof and second floor removed. Several barns were damaged and at least one destroyed. Trees were blown down on a number of homes. One person reported sighting the tornado. Only one minor injury was reported.

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

Every storm in Pennsylvania in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Pennsylvania, 1998 Warnings in Pennsylvania, May 1998

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: 5650665.