Alabama and Oklahoma have recorded the greatest number of tornadoes with a rating of 5 on the Fujita/Enhanced Fujita Scale, each with seven such . Temperatures were in the 80s (F) and dewpoint temperatures (a measure of moisture) were in the upper 60s and lower 70s (F). Lee was sitting in the Penn State radar room, watching the WSR 77 radar with other Penn State faculty members. As the first reports of damage trickled in to the NWS offices in the area, it quickly became clear that a tornado outbreak of an unprecedented magnitude was taking place across the region. I was not working that day. Many of the structures were reduced to bare foundations, leaving "no trace of lumber or contents." PORTIONS OF EASTERN OHIO The diverse air masses clearly have a whole lot to do with igniting the supercell thunderstorms that are the source of some of the most dangerous tornadoes, but indicting those ingredients alone would be a gross oversimplification, according to the Storm Prediction Center. In 30 years, a whole new generation has been born and has grown into adulthood. The National Weather Service employee who surveyed the damage from this tornado, Greg Gust, rated the tornado at the very top of the F4 scale. I was shaking so bad and didn't know where to go or what to do. Twenty-one tornadoes tracked across Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania during the evening of May 31st. This was mine. The Top Five Deadliest F/EF5 Tornadoes. This extremely violent tornado began in eastern Ohio, and tore directly through the towns of Niles, Ohio and Wheatland, Pennsylvania, producing F5 damage at both locations. A farm was completely leveled, and a child was reportedly carried .5mi (0.80km) away. The combination of moisture, instability, lift, and wind shear were present across a large area of the northeastern U.S. on May 31st. From 1989 to 1993, I attended Penn State, focusing on a Degree in Meteorology. I volunteered for the Red Cross, and they sent me to Wheatland. Reports indicated possible F5-level damage to homes. In Ohio, this was the worst event since the April 3-4th, 1974 outbreak that killed 37 in Xenia (NWS, 2019). He tried to drive them to safety, but when he couldnt get out of the path of the tornado, he pushed the children into a ditch and sheltered them with his body. On May 31, 1985, an F5 tornado devastated the towns of Newton Falls and Niles, OH and many other communities in Trumbull and Mercer counties. [4][nb 1]. An EF-5/F-5 tornado has been documented in 19 states, ranging from as far north as Fargo, North Dakota, to as far south as Central Texas and as far east as Ohio near its border with Pennsylvania. Eventually the storm debris was cleared away, insurance claims were paid and homes, businesses and shattered lives were rebuilt. (That likely would facilitate social distancing. A small frame house was also destroyed with its foundation clean. The thunderstorms were supported by a cold front moving east across the northeastern U.S. ahead of a low pressure system moving northeastward through the Great Lakes region. . One station I was updating was WKZA in Kane, a daytime only AM station (it no longer exists). Back on May 31st 1985, the state of Pennsylvania was the epicenter of a severe tornado outbreak, the deadliest in our state's history. Farms "entirely vanished," with debris carried for miles. According to the NWS Cleveland, OH (2019), this is a classic signature of severe weather outbreaks for this region. However, as the afternoon progressed, the thunderstorm activity developed south into northern Ohio. That was my cue to call the hospital. It's been a heck of a ride. Thomas P. Grazulis Ted Fujita), or meteorological research institutions (i.e. Soundings are created by plotting the data reported by weather balloons that are launched by the NWS each day all across the country. Seconds later the tornado touched down just beyond the house and tore a path to the next town, destroying homes and blowing a train off of the railroad tracks. As I took in all the devastation, I could not understand how so many actually survived. These indications can come from the United States government, Doppler on Wheels, tornado experts (i.e. The pastor of our church, Pastor Samuel Geer, was from Corry, PA and was very grateful that no one in his hometown was killed or injured. One F5 tornado hit Wheatland, PA and it remained the only F5 to hit east of the Mississippi River until 2011. The tornado impacted several cities (Figure 15), namely Newton Falls and Niles in Ohio and Wheatland in Pennsylvania. I was 10 years old and in fifth grade at the time. This list includes tornadoes believed or confirmed to have been at F5 or EF5 intensity. NWS Tornado Warned Supercells In The Homeland Producing Hail +Beautiful structure, Tornado and huge hail Central Kansas 4/19/2023. This is the story behind the F5 tornado. Twelve farms were flattened. I wanted to travel to Marienville but all the roads were blocked by downed trees and the fireman advised that I should not attempt to get there. There were also 82 injuries with a total of 309 buildings destroyed. I requested that I would like to see the damage from the air as soon as possible. It didnt take long for good things to begin emerging from the horror. The fact that significant weather occurred did not take anybody by surprise, but the magnitude of what happened was unprecedented. And it is hard to tell the difference among them all, but I would say in terms of destruction, just total devastation, this is the worst I have seen." . Twenty-one tornadoes tracked across Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania during the evening of May 31st. Even though my immediate area wasn't impacted by a tornado, the power of those storms as they moved through really peaked my interest in weather. On May 31st, 1985 I was a wide eyed 14 year old boy living in Punxsutawney, PA. At that time I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do when I got out of High School and had to go to college. From that point on through the evening, weather conditions worsened. The former Thrift Drug Co. sent 5,000 pounds of items to the Shenango Valley. Below is a collection taken from the NWS Cleveland, OH archive for this event, unless otherwise stated, these pictures are courtesy of Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) District 4: Collection of newspaper clippings from The Herald (2015): According to the NWS Cleveland, OH, the strongest of the tornadoes on May 31st touched down at the Ravenna Arsenal in eastern Portage County around 6:35 pm EDT. Reports of touchdowns north, south, east, west. The forecaster even analyzed a dryline (the bumpy blue line through the central Plains) on the 850mb map, showing the leading edge of the dry air. The "single" deadliest tornado in U.S. history was the famous Tri-State Tornado of March 25, 1925. This storm was headed directly for our office, but it collapsed and died completely before reaching the PA border with OH. So many lives affected. Noted as "possibly F5" by Grazulis. In fact, a few were throwing a party that night. 4:25 PM EDT FRI MAY 31 1985, ATHE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTERHAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR Two barns were leveled and a pickup truck was carried .5mi (0.80km) through the air. Quoting the original survey report produced by NOAA in 1985, perhaps the lesson to be learned from the 1985 outbreak is that under the proper atmospheric conditions, major tornadoes can occur irrespective of the location or terrain. At bit later, storm development southwest of the original tornado watch prompted the issuance of another that included much of the remainder of Ohio; a third watch was issued later in the shift into eastern Pennsylvania. One classic signature is called a hook echo. Here are stories from several individuals who have strong, lasting memories from May 31, 1985. While flying over the Wilderness Area, someone in the helicopter thought they had seen someone flash a signal or wave something. My parents were very upset since phone lines were down and they couldn't reach me. National Weather Service Still, the weather pattern appeared prime for severe storms to break out in Ohio/Western Pennsylvania later in the day. Let this day serve as a reminder that devastating tornadoes can occur in any month of the year at any time of the day and at any location in the country. The atmosphere has to work harder.. We knew we had windsbacking with height from southeast to southwest aloft and increasing with height. Fujita, who died in 1998, is the subject of a PBS documentary, Mr. Tornado, which will air at 9 p.m. Tuesday on WHYY-TV, 12 days shy of the 35th anniversary of that Pennsylvania F5 during one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. Many reported that they looked like upside-down salad bowls they were so wide. Most of Worth was destroyed. The tornado finally lifted south of the town of Mercer after damaging or destroying more than a thousand homes. After leaving Kane we flew westerly over another tornados path which hit the Tionesta Scenic and Natural Area and the Hickory Creek Wilderness Area, both of which are located in the Allegheny National Forest. While watching television the night of the storms, I remember seeing a national news report about the tornado outbreak. I attended PSU for a B.S. By the end of the evening, a total of forty-one tornadoes had occurred in the United States and Canada. They want you back in, she shouted over the mower. My mother took me and my brother to the library regularly during the summer. Westkentuckygenealogy / CC BY-SA 3.0, ber Wikimedia Commons - Lizenz. I called the Pennsylvania State Police and they gave me an update on the damage that the tornadoes had caused in our area. This tornado was rated EF5 by the French Observatory of Tornadoes and Violent Thunderstorms (Keraunos), with the European Severe Storms Laboratory acknowledging the EF5 rating as its maximum intensity, though ESSL also rated the tornado F5. FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. An F5 tornado rated years ago is still an F5, but the wind speed associated with the tornado may have been somewhat less than previously estimated. Forbes said he would not rule out a recurrence of 1985 in the next 50 years or so. The Pittsburgh staff then had to update the 4PM zone issuance to include the Tornado watch. We were unable to track a subsequent, deadly tornado that roared through the Elimsport/Watsontown areas. In 1987 we went on a family picnic with him to Parker Dam and he took me on a little road trip through Moshannon State Park. Natural Disaster Survey Report to the Administrator of NOAA. Some of the damaged area of Hermitage was permitted to join the Sharon-Farrell Enterprise Development Zone, which made businesses locating there eligible for an array of government assistance. The night of May 31, 1985 started a lifelong fascination inme with extreme weather, especially knowing that the F5 tornado had started on the easternend of my hometown. Beach, National Centers I remember him saying the question was not whether there was a tornado, but how strong was the tornado? An ATM surveillance camera at the First State Bank in Parkersburg, Iowa, shows a house across the street being hit by an EF5 tornado with estimated winds of . Decades later, despite remarkable technological advances, they still guard their secrets. During my entire career, I have only worked one weather event that involved a F5 tornado, that being the April 8, 1998 outbreak in Alabama. The tornadoes are numbered in the order they happened since 1950; so the numbers run from the bottom up. This tornado took nearly the same path as the next one, below. TORRO rated the tornado T10. Figure 7 depicts a modified sounding depicting the CAPE at Pittsburgh, PA at 7:00 pm. 43 tornadoes and numerous damaging thunderstorms tore across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario. The Tornado Outbreak of May 31, 1985. We turned on the TV to our local news and saw the damage pictures pouring in fromNewton Falls, a town 15 miles east of Ravenna. Officially rated F4 but images show possible T10/low-end F5 damage. May 31, 1985 changed my life forever. Of the 59 tornadoes in the United States, 50 are officially rated F5 on the original Fujita scale (with dates of occurrence between May 11, 1953, and May 3, 1999), and nine are officially rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale (with dates of occurrence between May 4, 2007, and May 20, 2013). Later in the day I drove to as many areas as I could to see the destruction first hand and to meet with people and offer comfort and assure them that the state would do all it could to assist them. Twenty-one tornadoes tracked across Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania during the evening of May 31st. The strength of the front and the degree of instability lead to the erosion or breaking of the cap and thunderstorms exploded with violent results. The peak period in the central United States is early spring, with the crest of the wave gradually rippling eastward later in the spring and in June. Susan was a resident of New Waterford, Ohio and experienced the Middleton, Ohio tornado. to along the middle Atlantic Coast then westward through North Carolina by Saturday morning June 1st. Another was carried for 200yd (600ft). After issuing the early Convective Outlook, I went home to bed. A restaurant was leveled, and cars in the parking lot were thrown up to 300yd (900ft) away from where they originated. Grabbing onto something and flying through the air. Most of it has been amazing to witness, while some of it has been somewhat sobering and deadly. A total of thirteen lives were lost and millions of dollars of property damage occurred in those counties alone. Acres of ground were "swept bare" in some parts of town. The Herald (2015). It brought home just how quickly and tragically a tornado can change lives. PORTIONS OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA Grazulis also called into question the ratings of several tornadoes currently rated F5 by official sources. Well-built homes were swept away in four counties with F5 damage in the town of Pomeroy. Two large homes were completely swept away. I was amazed at how that night produced the only F5 tornado to strike PA. That statistic remains so even today. I lived in Camp Hill, just west of Harrisburg, so I was too far southeast to experience the storms firsthand. Local KCCX Standard Radar (low bandwidth), Current Observations and Forecast Graphics, References, Additional Links, and Acknowledgements, Newton Falls, OH (Produced by the Newton Falls HS 1985-1986 AV Class), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. This image, courtesy Greg Forbes via Paul Markowski, is from the radar that was atop the Walker Building, home of Penn State Meteorology Department, around 8pm EST. Retrieved from: https://www.weather.gov/media/cle/Wx_Events/85outbreak/1985%20Tornado%20Final%5B1%5D.pdfNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (2019). Parts of Oakville "vanished," with house debris scattered for miles. Surface Analysis at 12Z. The threat of severe weather was so great that we had actually headlined the possibility in the zone forecasts at 4 AM on the previous midnight shift. I checked in and was told victims were coming in. They made an about-face when reports of a second twister came in less than two hours later. Weather Prediction Center Several other tornadoes have also been documented as possibly attaining this status, though they are not officially rated as such. We'll never know. Following two particularly devastating tornadoes in 1997 and 1999, engineers questioned the reliability of the Fujita scale. Retrieved from: https://www.sharonherald.com/news/local_news/few-visible-scars-remain-of-that-friday-night-in/article_3943bf03-2677-51ba-a2eb-0e8547f9f494.htmlNWS Weather Prediction Center (2017). Sleptzoff & T. Dunkle (2009). Philadelphia was hit by a fearsome F5 tornado in 1856. Not sure how they survived. (, Sixteen farms were blown away and the town of Grinnell was devastated, as well as the. Indeed explosive development of storms started over northeast Ohio (not far from where I grew up) in the late afternoon. The scale ranks tornadoes from F0 to F5, with F0 being the least intense and F5 being the most intense. National Hurricane Center Lots and lots and lots of sirens. On May 31, 1985 I was graduate student in meteorology at Penn State, a member of the Penn State Campus Weather Service, and just six days past my debut as weekend meteorologist for the summer on WNEP-TV in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. READ MORE: Storms disrupt SEPTA rail service; EF-2 tornado damages dozens of homes in Delco. Aviation By the end of the evening, a total of forty-one tornadoes had occurred in the United States and Canada. At 18Z (2:00 pm EDT), the cold front was entering Ontario (Figure 8). One farm appeared to show potential F5 damage to a home that was swept completely away. In addition to the accepted ones, Grazulis rated a further 25 during the same period which were not accepted. On May 31, 1985, many Pennsylvania residents faced injury, property damage, and even death due to a huge tornado outbreak, the largest and most intense tornado outbreak ever to hit this area of the country. Five farms and a home were swept away, leaving little trace. The low tracked across the northern Great Lakes during the afternoon, while the cold front progressed eastward across Indiana and western Ohio. I was escorted to the helicopter, given a helmet so I could communicate with the crew, and given a seat next to a rear door so I had a window. Many other tornadoes have never been formally rated by an official government source but have nonetheless been described as F5/EF5/T10+ or equivalent, often by independent studies. Decades later, despite remarkable technological advances, they still guard their secrets. This area is very hilly terrain and the tornado did not skip from one hill to the next, but went right down into the valley and up the other side for a far as the eye could see. The initial thunderstorms in the state occurred between 3 and 4 p.m. near Cleveland. Admission after admission. Clouds associated with this front gave way to sunshine during the morning hours allowing temperatures to soar. Each rapidly moving storm laid down a significant outflow boundary and resulted in new cell formation further to the south of the previous storms. The air felt like water-vapor soup. October 1985. An F3 tornado killed two people in Centerville with an F2 killing one person near Linesville. Twisted metal, clothes, and other pieces of homes. In all, 16 people died in this area. Specialties: F5 OKC, installing above ground and underground in-garage storm shelters statewide. On June 3rd, the Federal Government declared a state of emergency for the state of Pennsylvania. They were deciding whether to hang out at the weather station or go to the party. A cold front extended south from the low across the western Great Lakes and then through Illinois and Missouri. In der Geschichte von Nebraska hat nur ein einziger Tornado einen Rekord von mehr als 100 Todesopfern: der Omaha-F5-Tornado am 23. After we were back on the ground I learned that the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania would be landing in Tionesta shortly and I was invited to meet him there. Several F2 and one F1 tornado were also reported. Figure 2 depicts the surface analysis on the morning of May 31st. What he saw in storm surveys was almost unimaginable. This following two figures from Markowski show 1, the presence of the EML in the 7pm May 31st Pittsburgh sounding and 2, the formation and subsequent migration of the EML across the United States. Worldwide, a total of 67 tornadoes have been officially rated F5/EF5: 59 in the United States, two each in France and Germany, and one each in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and Italy. With the temperature staying in the 60s, it did not feel like a tornado day. Rated F4 by Grazulis. I had just been promoted to lead forecaster in March of 1985. The tree coverage is very dense in the forest with deep shade even on sunny days. It's been nearly a decade since the last EF5 tornado touched down in the United States on May 20, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma. Thomas P. Grazulis Ted Fujita), or meteorological research institutions (i.e. A total of 59 tornadoes have been rated this intensity since 1950. This tornado stayed on the ground for 45 miles but fortunately killed no people. Also note the deep closed low north of the Great Lakes. As noted in several summaries of this outbreak, including the official NWS damage assessment report, (NOAA/NWS October 1985): Perhaps the lesson to be learned from the 1985 outbreak is that under the proper atmospheric conditions, major tornadoes can occur irrespective of the location or terrain.. That was the day I found my calling. I interviewed many folks and heard story after story after incredible story. As McKean County was put under a tornado warning, I remember broadcasting with more urgency in my voice than ever before that this was not a typical tornado warning. Many casualties. I was ecstatic when I got my acceptance letter from Penn State University. Erie County, Pennsylvania was also affected by devastating tornadoes. The second F4 to affect Erie County touched down between Wattsburg and Corry in eastern Erie County. [10][11] Additionally, because tornado ratings are damage-based, many tornadoes capable of causing F5/EF5/T10+ damage, such as those that move through rural areas, may receive lower ratings because their strongest winds do not strike any suitable damage indicators. The rain and wind continued for another 45 minutes to one hour. The physical scars are mostly gone or healed. So many heroes. The original Fujita Tornado Damage Scale (or F-scale) had an upper-limit estimate of 318 mph for a three-second gust within a F5 tornado, but the EF scale does not place a maximum wind value. Today a new plaque was dedicated in the plaza where many of them were killed. During the summer of 1985, I was drawn to the tornado books, and unavoidably read a lot about general weather as well. However, much changed during the evening hours. The visible satellite loop above shows the development and explosive growth of thunderstorms across southern Ontario, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and western New York on the afternoon of May 31, This two day series of Daily Weather Maps (courtesy NOAA/NWS) shows the eastward progression of the cold front; from near Chicago on Friday morning May 31, Precipitation looks like a hook on the radar returns; showing. Multiple locations were found. May 31, 1985 started out quietly in Northeast Ohio and Northwest Pennsylvania, but danger loomed on the horizon. This storm went on to produce a F4 tornado with a track of over 60 miles across portions of Clearfield, Centre, and Clinton counties. (The program will follow a Nova segment on the deadliest, which occurred in 2011.) A few days after the tornado outbreak a group of us toured a part of the path of the Moshannon tornado and the damage in Kane. When I got home, I sat down for some dinner and to watch a video I had rented for a Friday night movie. Homes were completely destroyed, trees and shrubbery are debarked. I can also remember all the tornado warnings that were issued for the area as the storms moved in. You can help by participating in discussions about tornadoes for this list. Two violent F5 tornadoes destroyed much of Xenia and Sayler Park (a western suburb of Cincinnati) in Ohio. Thornburgh returned on Tuesday with Vice President George H.W. The last EF5 tornado to strike the U.S.. Most dont. Those lost never will be forgotten. Killer twisters also rampaged through northern Ohio, southwestern New York, and Ontario, in regions unaccustomed to encounters with the most ferocious storms on earth. ANOTHER TORNADO SOUTH OF SPARTANSBURG MOVING INTO WARREN COUNTY AND ONE NORTH OF OIL CITY MOVING INTO NORTHERN FOREST COUNTY. Sign up now to get our FREE breaking news coverage delivered right to your inbox. Jefferson County also indicated no reports of severe weather until golf ball sized hail was reported in Brookville as the storm rapidly exited Jefferson County and moved into southern Elk County about 7:20 PM. I served as assistant forecaster to lead forecaster Rich Anthony (now retired). We were spared but others were not so lucky. North American Surface Analysis: Surface Analysis 12Z Friday May 31, 1985. 1. If the mobile home or caravan isn't well-secured, it might not even turn it over. I called the Erie WSO to let them know about the serious strengthening of the storms and he said I have two hook echoes on my radar. First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. In the United States, between 1950 and January 31, 2007, a total of 50 tornadoes were officially rated F5, and since February 1, 2007, a total of nine tornadoes have been officially rated EF5. Of the 59 tornadoes in the United States, 50 are officially rated F5 on the original Fujita scale (with dates of occurrence between May 11, 1953, and May 3, 1999), and nine are officially rated EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale (with dates of occurrence between May 4, 2007, and May 20, 2013). A large stone monastery was partially leveled to the ground. Often the true extent of damage is not known until the disaster survey team can inspect the damage the next day. Click on a tornado name in the table below to view more details about each tornado. A warm front lifted north across the region during the predawn hours of the 31st. On the evening of May 31st, 1985, a devastating and deadly tornado outbreak struck the Northeastern United States and Canada. I also remember hearing about the possible threat for severe weather from the local TV Mets during the day. The vertical extent of the storm was astounding as it moved across. When I walked in, a coworker handed me a tornado warning for Erie and Crawford counties. I'll never forget all the sirens going off as it was hitting. The following hand-analyzed upper air maps (provided by NWS Cleveland) from the morning of the 31st highlight the significant area of dry air (yellow shading) or cap coming into play. THEY ARE ALL MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT NEAR 35 MPH. What trees had limbs were covered with debris. The tornado intensified to an F5 as it tracked east across southern Trumbull County devastating the communities of Newton Falls and Niles. I went to the fire department and they told me that tornadoes had touched down near the communities of Tionesta, Marienville, and Tidioute and one had hit Kane directly. Not much really happened through the day. After causing considerable damage there, the tornado slammed into Albion leveling the town. Many large stone buildings were flattened. They were being spotted everywhere and even in Greenville. [14][15], Prior to 1950, assessments of F5 tornadoes are based primarily on the work of Thomas P. Grazulis. The funnel clouds ripped homes from their foundations; tossed cars and trucks like twigs; toppled power poles; and twisted the tops off trees. Bush, who said the resiliency of Wheatland residents inspired the whole country.. Unfortunately, the mild temperatures and high humidity levels in place that day were two of the key ingredients that allowed a warm May afternoon to turn into an historical and deadly evening. [I previously wanted to be an astronomer; I subconsciously was probably already looking for new areas though, because as I learned more about astronomy, it became clear that the days of visual astronomy (i.e., looking through eyepieces and making discoveries) were long gone.] Leduc et al. I was real happy it was Friday -- I had been up since 2:30 AM and was as grateful for the chance to catch up on sleep over the weekend. W. VA A car engine, found nearby, was carried for a similar distance. Your thoughts begin to turn away from school and to what you'll be doing or where you'll be going during the summer. Thomas P. Grazulis Ted Fujita), or meteorological research institutions (i.e. TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 211 Nine people were killed in the business district of Niles. It just felt unusual to me that day, so much so that I actually noticed it while we wereplaying catch. At least 24 people died after this powerful twister devastated the . We had colder air aloft movingover the western Great Lakes with a jet max rotating around the south side of the approaching trough. Dead bodies were carried .25mi (0.40km) away. Rip Currents, ABOUT SKYWARN We still know terrifyingly little about the storms. Nature can be very, very powerful. Exceptionally rare, these tornadoes can produce wind speeds higher than 200 mph. In Pennsylvania along, 21 tornadoes touched down that day, including a rare F5 -- the most powerful classification on the Fujita scale. Wheatland Tube contributed $150,000 to create two disaster funds in its devastated town. THE TORNADO WATCH IS ALONG AND, 70 STATUTE MILES SOUTHWEST OF AKRON OHIO TO 20, REMEMBERA TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS. Ask any meteorologist what event sparked their interest in weather they almost always have one. US Dept of Commerce Tornado watches in Philadelphia are new to this region. This tornado outbreak left a permanent impact on those affected. According to the National Weather Service in Cleveland, OH (2019), the upper air features from the the morning analysis gave classic indications of a significant severe weather event across eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.