Tornadoes uncommon but destructive in Beaver County
The spring of 1985 taught Beaver County a lesson: it's no tornado alley, but powerful tornadoes can happen here.
That May 31, a deadly F3 tornado swept through Big Beaver, with whipping winds of more than 158 mph that ripped apart sturdy buildings and flipped cars on their roofs.
The storm killed three in Beaver County and injured dozens, staying on the ground for 55 minutes and traveling 39 miles from Big Beaver to just north of Cranberry Township. It destroyed more than 200 homes and the Big Beaver Shopping Plaza in mere minutes.
Beaver County has seen nothing like it since.
According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration records mined by GateHouse Media, the Beaver County region has seen two tornadoes since 2012 — both on the same date, four years apart. The National Weather Service confirmed an EF1 tornado — meaning it had winds between 86 and 110 mph that can cause moderate damage to homes -- in New Beaver, Lawrence County. Details of the tornado aren't available, but throughout the day, high winds were reported throughout Beaver and Lawrence counties causing property damage.
Four years to the day later, a weak EF0 tornado began near Bowers Road in Franklin Township, near the Zelienople Airport. That tornado continued into Lancaster Township in Butler County, damaging trees with its 65 to 85 mph winds.
While both of those storms occurred in July, May is still the most volatile time for severe weather in the region. Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon Township, said the end of May is a peak period for severe weather.
"Sometimes we get these upper level jets, and you have instability, plus warm summer air from the south, that are just going to kick off these storms," Hefferan said. "With high temperatures, we have more robustness to get these severe storms."
Specifically, May 31 has been a hotbed of tumultuous weather in the region. The devastating tornado that swept through Big Beaver in 1985 was part of a massive storm system that spawned 23 tornadoes that killed 89 people and injured at least 1,073 more.
On May 31, 1998, a derecho — a straight-line wind storm — swept through northern Pennsylvania, and an F3 tornado stayed on the ground in Somerset County for 15 miles, killing one person. Two days later, a storm system spawned nearly eight local tornadoes, including one in Shippingport and one on Mount Washington in Pittsburgh.
On May 31, 2002, a microburst — a high-wind thunderstorm similar to a tornado but missing its trademark funnel cloud — struck Kennywood Park in West Mifflin, Allegheny County, injuring 54 and killing one woman when high winds caused the structure over the historic Whip amusement ride to collapse.
This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Tornadoes uncommon but destructive in Beaver County
