F3 tornado, Evansville to Lyons, Pennsylvania, May 31, 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

May 31, 1998

Touchdown

9:00 PM EDT (01:00 UTC)

Path length

8.3 miles (13.4 km)

Path width

120 yards (110 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

7

Property damage

$1.4 million

County

Berks County

Touchdown point

40.480, -75.900

Lift-off point

40.480, -75.730

Record number

512

A violent thunderstorm produced a swath of wind damage across the northern half of Berks County and included an eight mile long strong F3 (Fujita Scale) Tornado that devastated the borough of Lyons. Seven persons were injured (five within Lyons). About 40 homes were either destroyed or damaged in Lyons, Maiden Creek, Maxatawny and Richmond Townships. Preliminary damage estimates for the entire event were placed at $1.5 million dollars. About 10,250 homes and businesses lost power. The last homes to come back on line were in Lyons on June 3rd. This was the first tornado of that strength to occur in Southeast Pennsylvania and the Southern Poconos since the Limerick Tornado on July 27, 1994 and the first F3 tornado to occur within Berks County since November 4, 1950. Even before the tornado formed, the parent thunderstorm was producing wind damage in western Berks County. Wind damage started in Centre Township as several trailers were overturned in Donny Acres. In Leesport, the severe thunderstorm ripped the entire roof off one home. The couple in the house was temporarily trapped after the porch roof they use to access the stairs collapsed. The thunderstorm also ripped the roof and some bricks off a detached garage. Other houses and buildings on East Main Street also had some minor wind damage. Debris from a knitting company's air conditioning unit pelted a neighborhood. Wind damage also occurred in Ontelaunee Tonship along Pennsylvania State Route 61.The tornado made its initial touchdown just to the east of Lake Ontelaunee in Maiden Creek Township around 9 p.m. EDT and moved almost due east across Richmond Township into the borough of Lyons (about 910 p.m. EDT), across southern Maxatawny Township and lifted in northern Rockland Township and 915 p.m. EDT. The tornado was on the ground for about 8.3 miles. Its path width was around 120 yards.The tornado destruction started near U.S. Route 222 in Maiden Creek Township as the roof was blown off one farmhouse. A vehicle was also crushed by a tree. In Maxatawny Township six homes were severely damaged. One house collapsed on Smoketown Road in the Bowers area. A second house lost its roof in the Arrowhead Development. The damage increased across Richmond Township as 10 homes or farms were destroyed or damaged. Pennsylvania State Route 662 was closed between U.S Route 222 and the Fleetwood Borough line because of downed poles and trees. Parts of U.S. Route 222 were also closed because of debris on the road. One house completely collapsed. At one farm the tornado toppled a huge silo and ripped off the roofs of another silo and the barn. At another home, the remains of a large metal storage bin rested on top of the house. Golf ball size hail also damaged two vehicles and a metal awning. The same parent thunderstorm also produced straight line wind damage farther south in Ruscombmanor Township.The worst damage occurred in the borough of Lyons. The north side of the borough was destroyed. About one quarter of the borough's 550 residents were affected by the tornado. The tornado damage within this borough led to a presidential declaration of a disaster area for Berks County. About 100 residents were sheltered. The tornado cut a two block wide path along Hunter Street just north of the Conrail Tracks. About 25 homes were heavily damaged, several collapsed. Miraculously, only five persons were injured. The last two tornado related injuries occurred in northern Rockland Township as it lifted and threw a modular home from its foundation. The two men inside were injured. The tornado then lifted.Although the tornado lifted, the parent thunderstorm still produced wind damage across eastern Berks County. Noble Street was closed in Kutztown because of downed trees and lines. Trees were also uprooted in Longswamp Township. Downed limbs and wires caused power outages in District, Greenwich, Longswamp and Rockland Townships.

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

23 minutes of warning. NWS PHI issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:37 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:10 UTC.

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 10:32 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.

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

45 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.