Tornadoes · United States · Pennsylvania · 2021

EF0 tornado, Kreamer, Pennsylvania, August 18, 2021

This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Snyder County on August 18, 2021, touching down at 4:35 PM EDT and reaching 15 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $4,000 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.

  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
August 18, 2021
Touchdown
4:35 PM EDT (20:35 UTC)
Lifted
4:36 PM EDT (20:36 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.5 miles (0.7 km)
Path width
15 yards (14 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$4,000
County
Snyder County
Touchdown point
40.798, -76.991
Lift-off point
40.806, -76.991
Record number
2108181435-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An EF-0 tornado touched down near Kreamer during the late afternoon of August 18, 2021. The tornado had estimated peak winds near 70 mph, a path length of around a half a mile, and a maximum path width of 15 yards.

An EF-0 tornado touched down near Kreamer during the late afternoon of August 18, 2021. The tornado touched down near the Middleburg Livestock Auction barn along Route 522 and tacked northward for approximately half a mile before lifting near the intersection of Globe Mills Road and West Hollow Road. A tree fell onto a fence on the wet side of the barn and a horse trailer was flipped on its side. A convergence wind signature was also found in a cornfield, and some trees were damaged near the end of the tornado path. The tornado had maximum winds near 70 mph, a path length of around a half a mile and a maximum path width of 15 yards.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:37 UTC and running to 00:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
09:00 UTC00:52 UTCFlash Flood WatchCTP
15:37 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WatchCTP
19:56 UTC20:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTP
20:30 UTC00:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryCTP

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:38 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

8.6 hours before the tornado, 209 km from the path. August 18, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2021-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1011 joules per kilogram, CIN -1, lifted condensation level 592 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2021-08-18The 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 151 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 30 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1011 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1825 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), 00:00Z

3.4 hours after it, 209 km from the path. August 19, 2021.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2021-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1288 joules per kilogram, CIN -8, lifted condensation level 1100 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2021-08-19The 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 126 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 30 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1288 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2372 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1100 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
5.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Selinsgrove (SEG), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:35 UTC130° 8 kt1017.3-RA
18:40 UTC130° 5 kt1016.9-RA
18:45 UTC120° 5 kt1016.9
18:50 UTC120° 5 kt1016.9
18:53 UTC7973130° 6 kt1016.9
18:55 UTC130° 7 kt1016.6-RA
19:00 UTC130° 13 kt1016.6-RA
19:05 UTC150° 9 kt151016.9-RA
19:10 UTC130° 9 kt151016.9-RA
19:15 UTC130° 5 kt1016.9-RA
19:20 UTC110° 8 kt1016.6-RA
19:25 UTC110° 5 kt1016.6
19:30 UTC120° 5 kt1016.6
19:35 UTC120° 5 kt1016.3
19:40 UTC100° 8 kt1016.3-RA
19:45 UTC120° 5 kt1015.9-RA
19:50 UTC130° 5 kt1016.3RA
19:51 UTC7773.4130° 7 kt1016.3+RA BR
19:53 UTC7773130° 7 kt1015.9+RA BR
19:55 UTC120° 5 kt1015.9+RA BR
20:00 UTC150° 4 kt1016.3RA BR
20:01 UTC7773 3 kt1016.3RA BR
20:05 UTC140° 2 kt1016.3+RA BR
20:05 UTC7674140° 3 kt1016.3+RA BR
20:10 UTC130° 2 kt1016.3+RA BR
20:15 UTC0° 0 kt1016.6+RA BR
20:20 UTC0° 0 kt1016.3+RA FG
20:22 UTC75740° 0 kt1016.3VCTS +RA FG
20:25 UTC70° 5 kt1015.9+RA FG
20:29 UTC757370° 4 kt1015.6-TSRA BR
20:30 UTC70° 5 kt1015.6-RA BR
20:32 UTC757390° 4 kt1015.9TSRA BR
20:35 UTC170° 5 kt1016.6+RA BR
20:38 UTC7574 6 kt1016.6+TSRA BR
20:40 UTC 10 kt1016.3+RA FG
20:45 UTC80° 2 kt1015.9+RA FG
20:46 UTC7574 3 kt1016.3VCTS RA BR
20:50 UTC75.273.4 3 kt1016.3RA BR
20:50 UTC220° 2 kt1016.3RA BR
20:53 UTC75740° 0 kt1015.9+RA BR
20:55 UTC0° 0 kt1015.9+RA BR
20:57 UTC75740° 0 kt1015.9+RA BR
21:00 UTC0° 0 kt1015.9+RA BR
21:02 UTC7574 3 kt1015.9-RA BR
21:05 UTC0° 0 kt1015.9-RA BR
21:06 UTC75740° 0 kt1015.9-RA BR
21:08 UTC75740° 0 kt1015.9-RA BR
21:10 UTC0° 0 kt1015.9-RA BR
21:15 UTC0° 0 kt1015.6-RA
21:16 UTC76740° 0 kt1015.6
21:20 UTC0° 0 kt1015.6
21:23 UTC767460° 3 kt1015.6
21:25 UTC60° 2 kt1015.6
21:30 UTC0° 0 kt1015.6-RA
21:35 UTC80° 4 kt1015.2-RA
21:40 UTC70° 4 kt1015.2-RA
21:45 UTC90° 4 kt1015.2-RA
21:50 UTC80° 2 kt1015.2RA BR
21:53 UTC7574 4 kt1015.2RA BR
21:55 UTC60° 2 kt1015.2RA BR
22:00 UTC60° 5 kt1014.9+RA BR
22:01 UTC757450° 4 kt1014.9+RA BR
22:05 UTC0° 0 kt1014.9RA BR
22:10 UTC75740° 0 kt1015.2RA BR
22:10 UTC0° 0 kt1015.2RA BR
22:15 UTC0° 0 kt1015.2RA BR
22:20 UTC120° 2 kt1015.2RA BR
22:21 UTC75740° 0 kt1015.2RA BR
22:25 UTC0° 0 kt1014.9RA BR
22:26 UTC75740° 0 kt1014.9+RA BR
22:28 UTC75740° 0 kt1014.9+RA BR
22:30 UTC0° 0 kt1014.9+RA BR
22:32 UTC75740° 0 kt1014.9+RA BR

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

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:36 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
18:43 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nw Mill HallClinton, PATREES DOWN ON WIRES.
18:59 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nne NewportPerry, PATREES DOWN ON WIRES.
20:35 UTCTORNADO3 Ene MiddleburgSnyder, PA0.5MI/15YD PATH LENGTH/WIDTH WITH ESTIMATED MAX WIND 65-70MPH.
20:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wsw KratzervilleSnyder, PAROOF PARTIALLY REMOVED ON A HOME AND A GARAGE IN MIDDLECREEK TWP. TREE LIMBS SNAPPED.
21:37 UTCTSTM WND DMGYeagertownMifflin, PATREES DOWN ON WIRES.
21:41 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ene DuncannonPerry, PATREES DOWN ON WIRES.
21:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ne HalifaxDauphin, PATREES DOWN ON WIRES.
22:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 E HalifaxDauphin, PAMULTIPLE TREES DOWN. FUNNEL CLOUD REPORTED.
22:31 UTCTORNADO2 Se HalifaxDauphin, PA1.5 MILE LONG PATH; 150 YARDS WIDE WITH ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WINDS NEAR 105 MPH.
23:00 UTCFLOOD2 Nnw DauphinDauphin, PASIGNIFICANT WASH OUT AND UNDERMINING OF THE ROAD AT ROUTE 225 NEAR CLARKS VALLEY RD IN MIDDLE PAXTON TWP.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in PennsylvaniaEvery tornado in Pennsylvania since 1950Warnings in force in Pennsylvania nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of August 18, 2021

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 1812:46 PM EDTEF0Schuylkill, PA0.110$20,000
August 183:16 PM EDTEF0Adams, PA0.675$6,000
August 186:31 PM EDTEF1Dauphin, PA5.5150$20,000
August 188:35 PM EDTEF0York, PA0.7125$20,000
August 189:15 PM EDTEF1Berks, PA1.1125
August 1812:25 AM EDTEF1Montgomery, PA8.8140

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.