Tornadoes · United States · Pennsylvania · 2003
F0 tornado, Carnegie, Pennsylvania, June 12, 2003
This F0 tornado ran 5.5 miles across Allegheny County on June 12, 2003, touching down at 5:40 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F040 to 72 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.
The record
- Rating
- F0
- Date
- June 12, 2003
- Touchdown
- 5:40 PM EDT (21:40 UTC)
- Path length
- 5.5 miles (8.8 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $30,000
- County
- Allegheny County
- Touchdown point
- 40.420, -80.070
- Lift-off point
- 40.450, -80.030
- Record number
- 384
What the Weather Service recorded
F0 tornado touched down in Scott Twp near Scott Twp Municipal Park. It traveled northeast about 20 mph to Greentree. It crossed near the intersection of Greentree Rd and the Parkway West. As it continued to travel northeast, it produced considerable tree damage along Springfield Rd and New York Rd. The tornado path ended with snapped trees along Grandview Dr on top of Mount Washington, where there was minor damage to roofs, siding, and structures. Estimated max wind 70 mph. Path length 5.5 mi. Path wide 50 yds.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Pittsburgh, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jun 12, 2:33 PM EDT, 3 hours 7 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 12, 2:33 PM EDT, 3 hours 7 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 233 PM EDT THU JUN 12 2003 SVR TSTM WATCH TIL 8PM FOR OUR EXTREME SE COUNTIES. CONCERNED ALSO WITH HEAVY RAIN TONIGHT. DEWPOINTS IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S. SHEAR IS MARGINAL. MOST OF AREA STAYED CLOUDY TODAY, BUT WE HAVE SEEN SOME BREAKS OVER THE SRN HALF OF CWA. SFC LOW ON THE INDIANA-OHIO BORDER AND SLOWLY MOVG ENE. BANDS OF HEAVY RAIN WITH EMBEDDED TSTMS EXPECTED TONIGHT IN ADVANCE OF COLD FRONT. FROPA FRIDAY MORNING. DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT LOW PASSES JUST TO OUR SOUTH. WE HAVE CONFINED PCPN TO COUNTIES SOUTH OF THE PA BORDER. ON SUNDAY HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE NW. PIT 65 78 62 78 / 60 20 20 20 HLG 64 77 60 78 / 60 10 20 20 MGW 65 79 61 78 / 60 10 20 30 ZZV 65 77 60 78 / 60 10 20 20 PHD 65 77 60 78 / 60 10 20 20 FKL 62 74 58 75 / 60 30 20 20 DUJ 62 74 58 75 / 60 30 20 20 LBE 64 77 60 78 / 60 10 20 20 BTP 62 74 58 75 / 60 30 20 20 IDI 62 74 58 75 / 60 30 20 20 ODM 61 74 57 75 / 70 30 20 30 .PBZ... MD...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR ZONE MDZ001. OH...NONE. PA...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR ZONE PAZ032. WV...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR ZONES WVZ023...WVZ041. RS
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 12, 11:53 AM EDT, 5 hours 47 minutes before
MDZ001-OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023- 029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-121730- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 1153 AM EDT THU JUN 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND. .DAY ONE...TODAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK THAT SOME OF THIS ACTIVITY COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 1:19 PM EDT, 4 hours 21 minutes before
MDZ001-PAZ032-WVZ023-041-130000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 119 PM EDT THU JUN 12 2003 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM EDT THURSDAY EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN PENNSYLVANIA... FAYETTE IN WEST VIRGINIA... PRESTON TUCKER IN MARYLAND... GARRETT <<< CALL TO ACTION >>> SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAIN FLOODS ROADS QUICKLY SO DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 2:46 PM EDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before
WVZ041-121845- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 246 PM EDT THU JUN 12 2003 ...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING OVER PARTS OF TUCKER... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS EASTERN TUCKER COUNTY...WEST VIRGINIA. ONE STORM WAS JUST SOUTH OF CANAAN HEIGHTS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. BE ALERT FOR HEAVY DOWNPOURS...OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS.
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 2:54 PM EDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
WVZ041-121945- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 254 PM EDT THU JUN 12 2003 ..SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING OVER PARTS OF TUCKER... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS EASTERN TUCKER COUNTY...WEST VIRGINIA. ONE STORM WAS JUST SOUTH OF CANAAN HEIGHTS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. BE ALERT FOR HEAVY DOWNPOURS...OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS.
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 3:12 PM EDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
MDZ001-WVZ041-122030- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 312 PM EDT THU JUN 12 2003 ...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER TUCKER AND GARRETT COUNTIES... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS EASTERN TUCKER COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA AND GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND. ONE STORM WAS NEAR KITZMILLER MARYLAND IN GARRETT COUNTY. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. BE ALERT FOR HEAVY DOWNPOURS...OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS. RAINFALL RATES OF AS MUCH AS ONE INCH PER HOUR ARE POSSIBLE.
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 5:31 PM EDT, 9 minutes before
PAZ014-020>022-029-030-122245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 531 PM EDT THU JUN 12 2003 ...THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA... THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER ALLEGHENY AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. THE ACTIVE STORM WAS NEAR THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH...ANOTHER WAS NEAR CLAIRTON AND STILL ANOTHER EAST OF MCCANDLESS. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST ABOUT 20 MPH. BE ALERT FOR VERY HEAVY RAIN OF ONE HALF TO THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH IN A SHORT PERIOD. ALSO...WATCH OUT FOR FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS TO NEAR 35 MPH.
The air that afternoon
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.
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), 12:00Z
9.7 hours before the tornado, 5 km from the path. June 12, 2003.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 40 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -75 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 920 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 63 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 115 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.7 K/km
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), 00:00Z
2.3 hours after it, 5 km from the path. June 13, 2003.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1375 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1395 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 753 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 100 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 171 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.5
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.1 K/km
The surface observations
Pittsburgh/Alleghen (AGC), 14 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 18 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:39 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in PennsylvaniaEvery tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950Warnings in force in Pennsylvania nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 12, 2003
4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
What this means
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.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.