F3 tornado, Meshoppen to Factoryville, Pennsylvania, June 2, 1998

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. F3158 to 206 mphthis tornado

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. F5261 to 318 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

F3

Date

June 2, 1998

Touchdown

10:00 PM EDT (02:00 UTC)

Path length

26.0 miles (41.8 km)

Path width

500 yards (457 m)

Deaths

2

Injuries

15

Property damage

$2.2 million

County

Wyoming County

Touchdown point

41.620, -76.050

Lift-off point

41.570, -75.800

Record number

1142

For the second time in three days, significant severe weather including tornadoes affected northeastern Pennsylvania. The primary focusing mechanisms were a strong mid level shortwave and surface cold front that approached the region during the evening of the 2nd. Strongly veering wind profiles that increased with height contributed significantly to the development of tornadic supercells. Two long tracked supercells produced tornadic damage across northeastern Pennsylvania during this event. The first tornado touched down in southwestern Susquehanna county in Auburn towship just after 9 pm EDT. This tornado tracked along a 12 mile path through Springville and Lathrop townships. Several mobile homes were damaged or destroyed and the roof of a small storage building was torn away. The twister also cut down scores of trees along the way. Its intensity was rated as F1. Fortunately, no injuries resulted. The other twister tracked along approximately a 35 mile path from extreme southeastern Bradford county across the length of northern Wyoming county and into northwestern Lackawanna county before weakening. The most devastation occurred in the small vacation community of Lake Carey in Wyoming county. The tornado strengthened to F3 intensity at Lake Carey and killed two people and injured a total of fifteen. More than 40 homes immediately surrounding the lake were either heavily damaged or destroyed. Additional residences were damaged or leveled further to the east through East Lemon township in northern Wyoming county. Isolated structural damage and considerable tree damage was the rule from Terry township in Bradford county eastward to just west of Lake Carey and also from East Lemon township eastward to near Lackawanna State Park where the tornado finally dissipated. In all, over 50 homes were damaged or destroyed and total damage estimates in the three county area exceeded three million dollars. Other smaller scale bow echo complexes produced widespread wind damage in the form of downed trees and power lines primarily across the northern tier counties and sections of the Poconos. Portions of Bradford, Susquehanna, and Wayne counties were without power for most of the night as electrical crews could not keep up with reports of downed wires. The most severely damaged areas including the Lake Carey vicinity needed assistance from the National Gaurd to clean up excess debris and help with repairs. Much of northeastern Pennsylvania qualified for federal disaster assistance.

The same tornadic supercell that affected southeastern Bradford county moved eastward into northern Wyoming county around 10 pm EDT. Aerial damage surveys indicate that intervals of tree damage occurred from Meshoppen eastward to near Valentine Hill on the border of Lemon township. This damage was primarily in the form of twisted off tree sections at canopy level and also some uprooted trees on hilltop areas. Between 1010 and 1015 pm, the tornado lowered again down the east side of Valentine Hill, skipped across the far north end of Stevens Lake, and carved a path over a small hill just west of Lake Carey. Several residences along this path had heavy tree damage and minor siding and roof damage to their homes. The twister then seemed to temporarily turn towards the south and cross a portion of the long axis of Lake Carey. It was here within this small vacation community that the most severe damage occurred along with loss of life. Eyewitness accounts indicate that the tornado crossed State Route 1003 (a small causeway across the short axis of the lake in an west-east orientation) at about 1020 pm. Every structure located along this narrow strip of land crossing Lake Carey either sustained substantial damage or was completely leveled. It was here where two fatalities occurred as an elderly woman and her grandson were literally sucked out of the second floor of a house and thrown into an adjacent building. Every nearby tree was snapped off, uprooted, or otherwise toppled in chaotic patterns. At that point, the tornado made a jog to the left and resumed its eastward course. It crossed over State Route 1005, which parallels the eastern end of Lake Carey, then skipped up over a small hill. Again, heavy damage was inflicted upon homes in the path of the tornado both along the east end of the lake and also going up the hill. A dozen or more small boats which were anchored along the eastern end of the lake were thrown up out of the water and onto the shoreline. One home going up the hill towards the east was reduced to only its foundation and a portion of the back wall. Massive tree damage continued to be evident with a swath of trees cut down in a narrow path going over the hill and down its eastern side towards East Lemon township. A total of 42 homes in and around Lake Carey suffered considerable damage or were totally destroyed. The character of damage in this area indicates that the tornado strengthened and reached F3 intensity. The damage path was over a third of a mile wide at times. As the tornado pushed further to the east through East Lemon township, it encountered more rugged terrain and less populated areas. Still, however, it did encounter three additional homes and heavily damaged all of them. One had its roof completely torn away and its garage flattened. Another had its back deck destroyed and all of the back windows blown out. Swaths of tree damage were interspersed amongst these houses. Fortunately, two of the homes were unoccupied at the time with only one other minor injury associated with the storm in East Lemon township. The tornado was rated as F2 intensity at this point with damage widths varying from 250 to 400 yards. As the cell approached Factoryville and the Lackawanna county line after 1035 pm EDT, it weakened a bit with the tornado skipping over hilltop sections for the most part. Mostly tree damage was evident from aerial surveys between Route 92 and Lake Sheridan. The tornado's intensity had decreased to F1 along this segment of its path with the width of damage narrowing to under 100 yards in spots. In total, county emergency management officials estimated that in excess of 2 million dollars worth of damage was incurred with over 50 homes destroyed or heavily damaged. Fifteen injuries were directly tied to the tornado along with the two deaths mentioned earlier.

The deaths

2 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 10:55 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AVP), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:00 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1998 tornado in PennsylvaniaEvery tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950Warnings in force in Pennsylvania nowThe forecast where you are

36 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.