Tornadoes · United States · Pennsylvania · 2019
EF1 tornado, Newport to New Buffalo, Pennsylvania, May 29, 2019
From Newport to New Buffalo, this EF1 tornado ran 4.9 miles across Perry County on May 29, 2019, touching down at 4:14 PM EDT and reaching 300 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $40,000 of property damage.
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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- EF1
- Date
- May 29, 2019
- Touchdown
- 4:14 PM EDT (20:14 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:19 PM EDT (20:19 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 4.9 miles (7.9 km)
- Path width
- 300 yards (274 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $40,000
- County
- Perry County
- Touchdown point
- 40.441, -77.108
- Lift-off point
- 40.443, -77.015
- Record number
- 1905291414-01
The damage survey
47 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS CTP, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 107 mph.
- Convergent pattern in field
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
An EF1 tornado touched down near Losh Run in Perry County on the evening of May 29, 2019. The tornado produced maximum winds estimated near 105 mph along a path that was nearly 5 miles in length and had a maximum path width of approximately 300 yards.
A National Weather Service survey team confirmed an EF1 tornado near Losh Run in Perry County Pennsylvania on May 29, 2019.||An EF1 tornado touched down southeast of Newport near the intersection of Route 849 and Narrows Road and progressed nearly due east for approximately 5 miles, finally lifting just east of the Juniata River near Route 322.||The most extensive damage was along Mahanoy Road, where it meets Newport Road (Route 849). In this area, the tornado downed hundreds of trees, including one tree that fell onto and destroyed a pickup truck. Some tree limbs also fell onto rooftops, but little other property damage was observed. East of this location, damage was mainly confined to sporadic trees being toppled. The tornado increased in intensity briefly before dissipating, as it crossed the Juniata River, River Road, and Route 322. Route 322 was closed for a time due to downed trees. Peak winds were estimated at 105 mph.
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 tornado watch, issued at 17:18 UTC and running to 22:43 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07:19 UTC | 00:20 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | CTP |
| 17:18 UTC | 22:43 UTC | Tornado Watch | CTP |
| 19:47 UTC | 20:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP |
| 19:53 UTC | 20:25 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP |
| 20:18 UTC | 20:34 UTC | Tornado Warning | CTP |
| 20:36 UTC | 21:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP |
| 20:58 UTC | 21:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP |
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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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.
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), 12:00Z
8.2 hours before the tornado, 168 km from the path. May 29, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 292 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -123 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 379 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1463 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 25 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.2 K/km
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), 00:00Z
3.8 hours after it, 168 km from the path. May 30, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 24 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -86 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 219 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2113 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 58 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 8.2 K/km
The radar
The State College radar (KCCX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:14 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:00 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | 2 N Mcalisterville | Juniata, PA | |
| 19:05 UTC | HAIL 1 | 3 Sw Richfield | Juniata, PA | |
| 20:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Johnstown | Union, PA | PA 192 AND PA 45 CLOSED FROM MIFFLINBURG TO LAURLTOWN DUE TO TREES AND WIRES DOWN. 50 TO 100 TREES DOWN IN WEST BUFFALO TWP. |
| 20:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Johnstown | Union, PA | PA 192 AND PA 45 CLOSED FROM MIFFLINBURG TO LAURLTOWN DUE TO TREES AND WIRES DOWN IN WEST BUFFALO TWP. |
| 20:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Sw Mckee | Perry, PA | TREES AND WIRES DOWN IN SAVILLE, CENTRE, AND SPRING TWPS. |
| 20:07 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 N Lochiel | Union, PA | MULTIPLE TREES DOWN ON HOLFA MILL RD IN LEWISBURG PA. |
| 20:14 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Sse Newport | Perry, PA | AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF NEWPORT AND TRAVELED APPROXIMATELY 4.8 MILES BEFORE LIFTING JUST EAST OF THE JUNIATA RIVER. MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH WAS APPROXIMATELY 300 YARDS, AND MAXIMUM WINDS WERE AROUND 105 |
| 20:17 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Losh Run | Perry, PA | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN WATTS, MILLER, AND BUFFALO TWPS, INCLUDING CLUSTER TREES IN WATTS TWP. |
| 20:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Losh Run | Perry, PA | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN WATTS, MILLER, AND BUFFALO TWPS, INCLUDING CLUSTER TREES IN WATTS TWP. |
| 20:24 UTC | TORNADO | Matamoras | Dauphin, PA | AN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR RT 225 N OF MATAMORAS RD AND TRAVELED 2.5 MILES ESE INTO CAMP HEBRON. MAX PATH WIDTH 500 YARDS, MAX WINDS 100 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. |
| 20:25 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 N Lebanon | Lebanon, PA | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. SPOTTER ESTIMATED WIND GUST OF 90 MPH. |
| 20:27 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Halifax | Dauphin, PA | NUMEROUS TREES AND WIRES DOWN. BARN ROOF PARTIALLY BLOWN OFF ON PARKER DR. DAMAGE TO SHELTERS AND BUILDINGS IN CAMP HEDRON. |
| 20:53 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Pine Grove | Schuylkill, PA | MULTIPLE TREES DOWN IN PINE GROVE TWP. |
| 21:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Lebanon | Lebanon, PA | NUMEROUS TREES AND WIRES DOWN IN WEST LABONON TWP. |
| 21:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 W Shippensburg | Franklin, PA | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN. |
| 21:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | York | York, PA | TREES DOWN ON STRUCTURES IN THE 400 BLOCK OF SMITH STREET. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in PennsylvaniaEvery tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950Warnings in force in Pennsylvania nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 29, 2019
40 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29 | 8:44 AM CDT | EF1 | Scott, MO | 1.0 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| May 29 | 2:07 PM EDT | EF0 | Tioga, PA | 1.1 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| May 29 | 1:19 PM CDT | EF0 | Tarrant, TX | 3.9 | 200 | $5,000 | ||
| May 29 | 1:22 PM CDT | EF0 | Denton, TX | 3.7 | 250 | $1,000 | ||
| May 29 | 1:31 PM CDT | EF1 | Tarrant, TX | 0.5 | 300 | $100,000 | ||
| May 29 | 3:14 PM EDT | EF0 | Lehigh, PA | 2.3 | 50 | |||
| May 29 | 3:20 PM EDT | EF0 | Sullivan, PA | 0.4 | 50 | |||
| May 29 | 2:58 PM CDT | EF0 | Rockwall, TX | 3.1 | 25 | $1,000 | ||
| May 29 | 3:07 PM CDT | EF0 | Van Zandt, TX | 3.0 | 100 | $5,000 | ||
| May 29 | 3:17 PM CDT | Unrated | Van Zandt, TX | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 29 | 4:24 PM EDT | EF1 | Dauphin, PA | 2.5 | 350 | $20,000 | ||
| May 29 | 4:24 PM EDT | EF1 | Fulton, PA | 0.7 | 50 | $35,000 | ||
| May 29 | 3:36 PM CDT | EF0 | Wood, TX | 3.4 | 100 | $1,000 | ||
| May 29 | 4:00 PM CDT | Unrated | Sac, IA | 1.2 | 30 | |||
| May 29 | 4:11 PM CDT | Unrated | Sac, IA | 0.7 | 20 | |||
| May 29 | 4:21 PM CDT | EF0 | McCurtain, OK | 1.1 | 75 | |||
| May 29 | 4:24 PM CDT | EF2 | Kaufman, TX | 4.0 | 215 | 1 | $1.0 million | |
| May 29 | 4:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Christian, IL | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| May 29 | 4:30 PM CDT | EF0 | Christian, IL | 0.2 | 20 | |||
| May 29 | 4:35 PM CDT | EF0 | Christian, IL | 0.3 | 20 | |||
| May 29 | 4:49 PM CDT | Unrated | Pocahontas, IA | 0.2 | 40 | |||
| May 29 | 4:50 PM CDT | EF0 | Macon, IL | 0.5 | 20 | |||
| May 29 | 4:50 PM CDT | EF2 | Wood, TX | 9.1 | 850 | $300,000 | ||
| May 29 | 4:51 PM CDT | EF2 | Van Zandt, TX | 7.2 | 700 | $500,000 | ||
| May 29 | 5:08 PM CDT | EF1 | Van Zandt, TX | 2.3 | 140 | $250,000 | ||
| May 29 | 5:16 PM CDT | EF0 | Randolph, AR | 0.6 | 75 | $40,000 | ||
| May 29 | 5:18 PM CDT | EF1 | Van Zandt, TX | 3.8 | 250 | $1,000 | ||
| May 29 | 5:31 PM CDT | EF0 | Fannin, TX | 10.8 | 300 | $25,000 | ||
| May 29 | 6:21 PM CDT | Unrated | Humboldt, IA | 0.5 | 30 | |||
| May 29 | 6:23 PM CDT | EF0 | Iowa, IA | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| May 29 | 7:01 PM CDT | EF1 | Poweshiek, IA | 3.5 | 50 | 1 | $10,000 | |
| May 29 | 7:28 PM CDT | Unrated | Poweshiek, IA | 0.9 | 30 | |||
| May 29 | 7:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Hardin, IA | 1.1 | 30 | |||
| May 29 | 7:39 PM CDT | Unrated | Poweshiek, IA | 0.9 | 30 | |||
| May 29 | 7:46 PM CDT | EF0 | Iowa, IA | 3.3 | 20 | |||
| May 29 | 8:13 PM CDT | EF0 | Johnson, IA | 0.3 | 20 | |||
| May 29 | 8:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Hardin, IA | 1.2 | 30 | |||
| May 29 | 8:29 PM CDT | EF0 | Hardin, IA | 0.6 | 40 | $30,000 | ||
| May 29 | 8:31 PM CDT | EF0 | Hardin, IA | 1.3 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| May 29 | 8:54 PM CDT | Unrated | Hardin, IA | 0.7 | 20 |
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.