Tornadoes · United States · Pennsylvania · 2007

EF0 tornado, Muncy, Pennsylvania, June 19, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Lycoming County on June 19, 2007, touching down at 4:50 PM EDT and reaching 70 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
June 19, 2007
Touchdown
4:50 PM EDT (20:50 UTC)
Lifted
4:57 PM EDT (20:57 UTC)
On the ground
7 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
70 yards (64 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Lycoming County
Touchdown point
41.205, -76.793
Lift-off point
41.215, -76.779
Record number
0706191450-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Widespread severe weather occurred on this day. Thunderstorms initiated in a warm and humid airmass ahead of a strong cold front moving eastward through the Ohio Valley. One storm produced and EF-0 tornado between Muncy and Hughesville in Lycoming county. In addition, a 24-year-old male was struck by lightning and killed in his driveway in York county.

NWS Storm Survey Team confirmed EF-0 Tornado embedded in larger area of downburst wind damage between Muncy and Hughesville. Dozens of trees were knocked down along with minor damage to structures. Average path width was 50 to 70 yards with an approximate length of 1 mile. Peak winds were estimated to be between 65 to 70 mph. There were no injuries or fatalities.

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

The warnings

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 16:45 UTC and running to 01:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
16:45 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchCTP
18:10 UTC19:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTP
19:11 UTC20:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTP
20:04 UTC23:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningCTP
20:32 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTP
21:06 UTC21:30 UTCTornado WarningCTP

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:41 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 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.

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), 12:00Z

8.8 hours before the tornado, 202 km from the path. June 19, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2007-06-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 290 joules per kilogram, CIN -216, lifted condensation level 1065 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 2007-06-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 18 knots.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
290 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-216 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1065 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Williamsport (IPT), 12 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:54 UTC7467 3 kt1012.9-TSRA
19:54 UTC816750° 3 kt1011.5VCTS HZ
20:54 UTC7869150° 16 kt241011.9VCTS HZ
21:20 UTC75.266.20° 0 kt1012.2VCTS HZ
21:27 UTC73.466.270° 9 kt1011.5VCTS HZ
21:54 UTC756770° 8 kt1011.5VCTS HZ

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

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:48 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.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
18:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Ne WilliamsportLycoming, PANUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND MINOR STREET FLOODING NORTH OF WILLIAMSPORT.
18:30 UTCHAIL 0.751 N WilliamsportLycoming, PAPENNY SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN GRAMPIAN HILLS 1.6 MILES NORTH OF WILLIAMSPORT.
20:12 UTCHAIL 1MifflinburgUnion, PA
20:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGMifflinburgUnion, PAMIFFLINBURG BOWLING ALLEY SIGN DOWN. WEST MILTON BANK SIGN DOWN. ROOF OFF HOUSE NEAR JCT RTE 45 FOREST HILL RD.
20:15 UTCHAIL 0.75MifflinburgUnion, PA
20:39 UTCHAIL 0.75MuncyLycoming, PATV STORM TRACKER REPORTED HAIL ON ROUTE 180.
20:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGSelinsgroveSnyder, PA911 CENTER REPORTED TREES AND WIRES DOWN
20:48 UTCHAIL 0.25MuncyLycoming, PAOBSERVER REPORTED HEAVY RAIN. A JEEP WAS OVERTURNED ON RTE 180. A HOUSE WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IN WOLF TWP.
20:49 UTCTSTM WND DMGSunburyNorthumberland, PA911 CENTER REPORTED MULTIPLE TREES AND WIRES DOWN ALONG ROUTE 147.
20:50 UTCTORNADOMuncyLycoming, PANWS STORM SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED EF-0 TORNADO EMBEDDED IN LARGER AREA OF DOWNBURST WIND DAMAGE. DOZENS OF TREES KNOCKED DOWN ALONG WITH MINOR DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES. PATH 3.5 MILES FROM MUNCY TO NEAR HUGHSVILLE. PATH WIDTH
21:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGHughesvilleLycoming, PANUMEROUS TREES DOWN. A SIGNIFICANT WIND SHIFT OCCURED. SEVERAL REPORTS OF POSSIBLE TORNADO AT RTE 118 AND FOX HOLLOW RD.
21:05 UTCTORNADOHughesvilleLycoming, PASTORM TRACKER FOR TELEVISION STATION REPORTED TORNADO AT RTE 118 CLARKSTOWN RD.
21:34 UTCTSTM WND DMGHuntington MillsLuzerne, PASOME TREES DOWN
21:40 UTCHAIL 0.75BloomsburgColumbia, PATREES DOWN IN SUBURBS.
21:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGSweet ValleyLuzerne, PATREES DOWN
22:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGShickshinnyLuzerne, PATREES DOWN
23:33 UTCTSTM WND DMGElysburgNorthumberland, PA911 CENTER REPORTED TREES DOWN ON ROUTE 487 AT KNOBELS AMUSEMENT PARK.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in PennsylvaniaEvery tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950Warnings in force in Pennsylvania nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 19, 2007

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 191:00 PM CDTEF0Morgan, AL0.325
June 192:35 PM CDTEF0Sheridan, KS2.050
June 191:55 PM MDTEF0Baca, CO3.175
June 196:55 PM CDTEF0Iberville Parish, LA0.120
June 199:06 PM CDTEF0Stevens, KS0.850
June 199:38 PM CDTEF0Texas, OK2.250

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.