2 tornadoes packing winds up to 120 mph touch down in western Pa., West Virginia
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Some of the damage left behind by one of two tornadoes that touched down in the West Virginia panhandle and western Pennsylvania Monday night. (Tom Hart/Marshall County EMA) |
Two confirmed tornadoes in southwestern Pennsylvania and nearby West Virginia Monday night damaged several homes and barns, tearing off roofs and siding, and uprooted numerous trees as potent storms moved through the region.
No injuries were reported from the severe weather, but crews on the scene in Dallas, West Virginia, approximately 50 miles southwest of Pittsburgh, provided images of roofs demolished, with debris scattered about by the first of the two twisters.
A storm damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service on Tuesday confirmed that the tornado was EF2 strength and packed winds of up to 120 mph. The twister touched down at 7:05 p.m. EDT, traveling east nearly 2 miles, tearing through Ohio and Marshall counties in West Virginia before moving into Washington County in Pennsylvania, about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh. For four minutes, the tornado traveled at a maximum width of 350 yards and estimated peak winds between 111 and 120 mph.
Video taken in Washington County near the West Virginia border and shared with WTRF-TV in Wheeling shows the twister touching down in West Finley Township:
@NWSPittsburgh This video was sent into us from Beham, PA of the tornado warned cell for Ohio and Marshall County WV and Washington County PA. #Tornado #PAwx pic.twitter.com/69lut2FYUK
— Zach Petey (@Zach_PeteyWx) August 2, 2022
Aside from several heavily damaged homes, many trees were ripped up from the grounds, at least two RVs were flipped over, and several roads were blocked due to extensive debris and tree limbs.
"We're going to check with each landowner and see what resources they need," Valley Grove (West Virginia) Fire Chief John Gearry said on the scene of the damage Monday evening, what he called a "long night."
According to WTOV News in the Ohio Valley, tragedy struck one family in the Dallas area when a family who had lost their home to a fire last month had the rest of their belongings destroyed when the tornado obliterated an old barn where they had been storing them on the homestead.
"Keep them in our thoughts and prayers," Marshall County EMA Director Tom Hart told WTOV. "They've been through a lot in the last month."
Hart posted footage of the twister that was filmed by a local resident:
The second and much weaker tornado, estimated at an EF0 strength by the NWS, came through Greene County in Pennsylvania, touching down just southeast of Graysville at about 7:35 p.m. EDT, according to the NWS survey team. Carving a path of 1.2 miles with a maximum width of 150 yards and estimated peak winds of 85 mph, the tornado also carved up local forestry. The storms that passed through the region produced the second and third tornadoes of 2022 in the NWS Pittsburgh warning area.
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