Significant low elevation rain and higher elevation snow is expected across central California and the Pacific Northwest into the Rockies through the weekend. A wintry mix and some ice accumulation will impact portions of the Central Plains through the Upper Midwest through Saturday. Widespread rain is forecast across the Southern Plains into the Mid-Mississippi and Ohio valleys this weekend. Read More >
An EF2 tornado was confirmed near White Horse, PA (Lancaster County). The tornado occurred on Feburary 24, 2016 at 7:38PM. Below is a path of the tornado and locations of some of the damage surveyed. Green triangles indicate areas where EF1 damage occcurred, and yellow triangles indicate EF2 damage:
A full summary of the damage survey can be found below:
...EF2 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN LANCASTER COUNTY... LOCATION...WHITE HORSE IN LANCASTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA DATE...FEBRUARY 24 2016 ESTIMATED TIME...0738 PM EST MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF2 ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...120-125 MPH MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...400 YARDS PATH LENGTH...4.87 MILES BEGINNING LAT/LON...40.01N / 76.03W ENDING LAT/LON...40.07N / 75.98W * FATALITIES...0 * INJURIES...0 * THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT(S) AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA. ...SUMMARY... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS CONFIRMED AN EF2 TORNADO NEAR WHITE HORSE IN LANCASTER COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ON FEBRUARY 24 2016. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ONE-HALF MILE SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF AMISH ROAD AND SPRING GARDEN ROAD THEN TRAVELED TO THE NORTHEAST AT A SPEED OF AROUND 50 MPH...STAYING ON THE GROUND FOR 7 MINUTES. AN ESTIMATED 50 BUILDINGS SUSTAINED DAMAGE ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO. TWO LARGE FARM OUTBUILDINGS AND ONE TWO- STORY RESIDENCE HAD THE MAJORITY...OR THEIR ENTIRE ROOFS BLOWN OFF NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF AMISH ROAD AND SPRING GARDEN ROAD. THIS MARKED THE TRANSITION OF THE TORNADO FROM EF1 TO EF2. A VAN WITH SEVERAL PASSENGERS TRAVELING WEST ON SPRING GARDEN ROAD AND NEAR THE SAME INTERSECTION WAS BLOWN ABOUT 10 FEET TO THE NORTH OF THE ROAD AND INTO A FIELD. AROUND ONE HALF MILE TO THE NORTHEAST AND ALONG MILLWOOD ROAD...ADDITIONAL EF2 DAMAGE OCCURRED AS ROOFS WERE BLOWN OFF SEVERAL FARM OUTBUILDINGS AND BARNS... ALONG WITH ONE TWO STORY RESIDENCE. A PINE TREE LOCATED IN THE FRONT YARD WAS STRIPPED OF MOST OF ITS BRANCHES AND FOLIAGE...WITH ONLY A FEW LARGER BARE LIMBS REMAINING. A WOODEN BARN BEHIND THE RESIDENCE WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED WITH SUBSTANTIAL DEBRIS CARRIED SEVERAL HUNDRED YARDS TO THE NORTHEAST ACROSS A FIELD. MID TO HIGH END EF1 DAMAGE TO ROOFS WAS NOTED TO SEVERAL FARM BUILDINGS AND HOMES ALONG THE EAST-WEST PORTION OF MILLWOOD ROAD...AND ALONG OLD PHILADELPHIA PIKE NEAR SCHOOL LANE ROAD. A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DEBRIS IN THE FORM OF CRUMPLED SHEET METAL FROM ROOFS WAS SCATTERED ACROSS FIELDS ADJACENT TO MEETING HOUSE ROAD TO THE NORTH OF OLD PHILADELPHIA PIKE. A SECOND AREA OF CONCENTRATED EF2 DAMAGE WAS NOTED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF SELDOMRIDGE ROAD AND CAMBRIDGE ROAD. THE TORNADO KNOCKED OVER SEVERAL LARGE GRANITE TOMBSTONES IN A CEMETERY...THEN STRIPPED ABOUT ONE QUARTER OF THE ROOF OFF A LARGE BUILDING WHERE MORE THAN 100 PEOPLE WERE ATTENDING AN AUCTION. THE FINAL LOCATION OF EF2 DAMAGE WAS NOTED ALONG KAUFFROTH ROAD AND JUST A FEW HUNDRED YARDS TO THE NORTH OF ITS INTERSECTION WITH SELDOMRIDGE ROAD. IT WAS HERE WHERE A LARGE ONE- ROOM METAL AMISH SCHOOL WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND BLOWN ABOUT 100 YARDS UPHILL AND INTO A FIELD. THE TORNADO BEGAN TO WEAKEN FROM THIS POINT WITH THE FINAL EF1 DAMAGE NOTED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF GAULT ROAD AND ROSEHILL DRIVE WHERE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE OCCURRED TO ROOFS AND SIDING ON SEVERAL HOMES AND SHEDS. SEVERAL SOFTWOOD TREES WERE ALSO UPROOTED AT THE END OF THE TORNADO PATH ABOUT 100 YARDS TO THE NORTH OF THISTLE DRIVE. THIS INFORMATION CAN ALSO BE FOUND ON OUR WEBSITE AT WEATHER.GOV/STATECOLLEGE. FOR REFERENCE...THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: EF0...WIND SPEEDS 65 TO 85 MPH. EF1...WIND SPEEDS 86 TO 110 MPH. EF2...WIND SPEEDS 111 TO 135 MPH. EF3...WIND SPEEDS 136 TO 165 MPH. EF4...WIND SPEEDS 166 TO 200 MPH. EF5...WIND SPEEDS GREATER THAN 200 MPH. $$ HAGNER/LAMBERT/WATSON/CHABALA
Reflectivity loop from KDIX (located near Philadelphia, PA) at the time of the tornado.
Storm Relative Motion loop from KDIX (located near Philadelphia, PA at the time of the tornado. Greens and blues indicate motion towards the radar and reds indicate motion away from the radar.
Reflectivity loop from KLWX (located near Sterling, VA) at the time of the tornado.
Storm Relative Motion loop from KLWX (located near Sterling, VA at the time of the tornado. Greens and blues indicate motion towards the radar and reds indicate motion away from the radar.
Credit: NWS State College
Credit: NWS State College
Credit: Cory Edmunds/Edmunds Photography
Credit: Cory Edmunds/Edmunds Photography
Credit: Cory Edmunds/Edmunds Photography
Credit: Cory Edmunds/Edmunds Photography
Credit: Nicholas Isabella
Credit: Nicholas Isabella
Credit: Nicholas Isabella
Do you have additional photos of the damage? Email them to ctp.stormreports@noaa.gov. Please include the source/name of the photographer for attribution.