EF1 tornado, Rohrerstown to Centerville, Pennsylvania, September 29, 2015

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

September 29, 2015

Touchdown

12:40 AM EDT (04:40 UTC)

Lifted

12:45 AM EDT (04:45 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

2.5 miles (4.1 km)

Path width

75 yards (69 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$4.0 million

County

Lancaster County

Touchdown point

40.050, -76.371

Lift-off point

40.081, -76.397

Record number

1509292240-01

An EF1 tornado was confirmed near Rohrerstown in East Hempfield Township. The tornado uprooted and snapped several large trees as it skipped along a northwest heading for approximately 2.5 miles. At it's peak intensity with maximum winds exceeding 90 mph, the tornado produced significant structural damage to a warehouse located just south of US Route 30. Local and county emergency management officials estimated the damages in the 3 to 5 million dollar range.

The National Weather Service in State College confirmed an EF-1 tornado, with peak winds around 95 mph, near Rohrerstown in East Hempfield Township, Lancaster County. The tornado touched down around 12:40 am on September 30, 2015. ||The tornado tracked from southeast to northwest along a 2.5-mile path, with two segments of concentrated damage. The first segment covered an approximate one-half mile stretch from the Limespring Farm across US Route 30 and up a nearby hill-side before lifting. The circulation traveled aloft for about 1 mile with a second touchdown just southeast of Centerville Road on Stonebridge Drive. The tornado then crossed Nolt Road and then dissipated just before reaching Bowman Road.||The initial touchdown occurred on the 2300 block of Noll Road between the Limespring Farm and Rohrerstown Elementary School. The Survey team observed an extensive area of healthy snapped and uprooted trees /1 to 2 feet in diameter/ exhibiting a clear convergent signature. Additional damage at the Limespring Farm property included a destroyed outbuilding shed.||Damage indicators confirmed the tornado reached peak intensity as it impacted an industrial warehouse located on Running Pump Road just south of US Route 30. Winds in excess of 90 mph blew in one of the metal garage doors at a loading bay and lifted off a large section of the warehouse roof, which eventually lead to the|partial collapse of interior walls. The local fire chief estimated over 35 percent loss of the roof, with debris blown and deposited on to US Route 30. A wood pallet skid was projected into the side of the warehouse making a clear dent in the building. Two horizontal beams were twisted and detached on the front side of the warehouse where the winds exited the building. Large sections of metal siding were removed from the warehouse. Insulation from the warehouse was recovered at the Four Seasons golf course. Damage along the second tornado path segment consisted mainly of snapped and uprooted trees. There were no injuries.

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.

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:57 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.

Lancaster (LNS), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 154 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:38 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in PennsylvaniaEvery tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950Warnings in force in Pennsylvania nowThe forecast where you are

2 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.