Tornado, Lancaster
- When
- October 19, 7:00 PM EST to 7:25 PM EST
- Where
- Lancaster County, 1.44 mi NNE of Fishing Creek to 1 mi SE of Gordonville
- Rating
- EF1
- Path length
- 16.56 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Injuries
- 15 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $6.0 million
- Reported by
- NWS Storm Survey
- Coordinates
- 39.800, -76.263
The National Weather Service in State College, PA along with Lancaster County Emergency Management officials conducted a storm survey in the southwestern part of Lancaster County. The survey confirmed an EF1 tornado affected portions of southwest and south-central Lancaster County during the late evening on October 19, 2012. Maximum winds were estimated between 100 and 110 mph. The path length was approximately 16 miles and the maximum width was 200 yards.
The tornado first touched down near Fern Glen in southwest Lancaster County, then|traveled northeast to near Paradise. The tornado damage was sporadic and embedded within a larger area of straight line wind damage that extended from Fern Glen in Drumore Township to Paradise City in Paradise Township. It is estimated that the tornado touched down around 2000 pm EDT, skipped along to the northeast and lifted back up for the final time at around 2025 pm EDT. The damage path was not c continuous, as the tornado touched down and lifted up a number of times.
The locations with the most recognizable tornadic signature damage from the air were as follows from south to north: 1) Near Fernglen with evidence of strong convergent storm damage 2) Near Liberty Square with a clearly-defined convergent wind pattern in the corn field and nearby tree and structure damage 3) About 1.5 miles southwest of Buck where 3 medium-sized high tension electric transmission towers were knocked down from south to north 4) About 2 miles west-northwest of Quarryville along Cinder road were swaths of trees were downed with convergent signatures and multiple structures were damaged 5) About 3-3.5 miles south of Strasburg from near Weaver road to White Oak road where convergent patterns of trees downed with structure damage and a collapsed barn 6) About 2 miles southeast of Strasburg near Reservoir Road were a convergent pattern of snapped tree trunks were evident.
The storm produced 15 injuries, all in the city of Paradise where a open-air horse pavilion collapsed at Paradise Park. Along the path, approximately 50 structures were damaged, and several barns destroyed. An estimated 2000 to 3000 trees were knocked down, along with 2 small high tension towers in the Buck area. Initial estimates from County Emergency Management put damage in the 5 to 7 million dollar range.