Tornadoes · United States · Pennsylvania

2019 tornadoes in Pennsylvania

35 tornadoes touched down in Pennsylvania in 2019, 167 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2018 2020 The whole country in 2019

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in Pennsylvania in 2019

January 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 811:25 AM ESTEF1Mercer2.8400$5,000

April 14 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 146:48 PM EDTEF0Crawford0.4100$50,000
April 147:43 PM EDTEF0Venango1.2100
April 147:53 PM EDTEF0Venango1.075
April 148:20 PM EDTEF2Warren18.0400$1.0 million
April 1412:35 AM EDTEF1Union1.4150$100,000
April 141:00 AM EDTEF2Columbia3.7300
April 141:05 AM EDTEF1Sullivan10.4350$500,000
April 141:45 AM EDTEF0Lackawanna3.2100$25,000
April 141:50 AM EDTEF1Susquehanna2.4150$20,000

April 19 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 197:06 PM EDTEF1Fulton1.575$25,000
April 197:10 PM EDTEF2Franklin2.975$100,000
April 197:28 PM EDTEF1Huntingdon5.4350$100,000
April 197:39 PM EDTEF1Juniata1.3350$25,000
April 197:57 PM EDTEF2Mifflin4.9200$500,000

May 19 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 198:03 PM EDTEF1Lancaster0.8125$100,000
May 199:51 PM EDTEF1Bucks0.3100

May 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 239:14 PM EDTEF0Cambria1.6300$10,000

May 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 258:27 PM EDTEF1Indiana5.135
May 258:32 PM EDTEF0Indiana0.120

May 28 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 283:45 PM EDTEF0Indiana0.330
May 284:50 PM EDTEF1Bradford3.2200$20,000
May 285:52 PM EDTEF2Berks3.1400$25,000
May 286:10 PM EDTEF0Wyoming1.6751$20,000
May 286:18 PM EDTEF1Lackawanna0.8125$25,000

May 29 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 292:07 PM EDTEF0Tioga1.150$25,000
May 293:14 PM EDTEF0Lehigh2.350
May 293:20 PM EDTEF0Sullivan0.450
May 294:14 PM EDTEF1Perry4.9300$40,000
May 294:24 PM EDTEF1Dauphin2.5350$20,000
May 294:24 PM EDTEF1Fulton0.750$35,000

June 16 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 165:03 PM EDTEF1Mercer1.1150
June 166:18 PM EDTEF1Butler1.5400
June 167:55 PM EDTEF1Indiana0.350

October 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 3111:25 PM EDTEF2Delaware0.52502

Nearby

Every tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950Warnings in force in PennsylvaniaThe live radar over Pennsylvania

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.