Tornado in Pennsylvania, January 18, 1999

A weak (F0 on the Fujita Scale) gustnado briefly touched down in South Philadelphia in Marconi Plaza and injured 18 persons about 436 p.m. EST. The most serious injury occurred to a 19-year-old pregnant woman whose pelvis was fractured by a fallen tree limb. The woman was trapped under the large limb for 30 minutes until rescue workers chainsawed her free. The fetus was unharmed. The other seventeen persons suffered minor injuries from flying debris. Trees, limbs and wires were pulled down along Oregon Avenue from the plaza through at least 10th Street. Windows were also shattered along Oregon Avenue. About 35,000 PECO customers lost power throughout their southeast Pennsylvania service area; 1,000 were within Philadelphia. About 20 AMTRAK, SEPTA and New Jersey Transit trains were stranded on the AMTRAK Northeast Corridor rail lines when power was lost between 520 p.m. and 730 p.m. EST. Power was restored between Philadelphia and Wilmington at about 635 p.m. EST and the rest came back on line by 730 pm. EST. The gustnado's path length was 0.2 miles and its path width was 20 yards. Elsewhere within the city, the cold frontal passage was accompanied by very strong gusty winds. The peak wind gust of 55 mph was recorded at Philadelphia International Airport at 439 p.m. EST and a peak wind gust of 45 mph was recorded at Northeast Philadelphia Airport at 449 p.m. EST.