Severe Storms May 26 2011

News Headlines

EF1 Tornado near Milan in Bradford County PA
Straight Line Wind Damage Athens, PA
Radar

EF1 Tornado Confirmed near Milan in Bradford County Pennsylvania

Location: Milan in Bradford County Pennsylvania
Date: May 26, 2011
Estimated time: 730 PM EDT
Maximum EF-scale Rating: EF1
Estimated maximum wind speed: 90 mph
Maximum path width: 75 yards
Path length: 0.4 miles
Beginning lat/lon: 41.892231, -76.527025
Ending lat/lon: 41.896315, -76.521884
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 0

Summary

The National Weather Service in Binghamton, NY has confirmed a tornado near Milan in Bradford County Pennsylvania on May 26, 2011.

The tornado touched down on a hillside about 1 mile south to southwest of Milan at 730 PM EDT. The tornado then tracked to the northeast for about 4 tenths of a mile before lifting near Route 220. Most of the damage associated with this tornado was to trees. There was also a trailer that was damaged by the strong winds and falling trees. Maximum winds were estimated at 90 mph which falls into the EF1 category. The tornado was on the ground for just a few minutes.

The information in this statement is preliminary and subject to change pending final review of the event(s) and publication in National Weather Service Storm Data.

For reference, the Enhanced Fujita Scale classification can be found here.

DJN/RAM

Damage photos

Click on an image below to see a larger view.

Photos showing the damage caused by straight line winds from severe thunderstorms in the Athens, PA area.

Click on an image below to see a larger view.

This is a base reflectivity radar loop from the National Weather Service radar Binghamton, NY. This loop shows thunderstorms moving across parts of central NY and northeast PA from 01:08 PM EDT (17:08 UTC) May 26, 2011 through 10:47 PM EDT May 26, 2011 (02:47 UTC May 27, 2011).

For reference:

More information about the different radar products.
For storm reports, please see the National Weather Service Storm Data for Pennsylvania.
Enhanced Fujita Tornado Scale.
A microburst is a convective downdraft with an affected outflow area of less than 2 1/2 miles wide and peak winds lasting less than 5 minutes. Microbursts may induce dangerous horizontal/vertical wind shears, which can adversely affect aircraft performance and cause property damage. Straight-line winds are generally any wind that is not associated with rotation, used mainly to differentiate them from tornadic winds.