Two Tornadoes Plus a Very Rare Waterspout in Huntingdon County

Two more tornadoes have been confirmed in Huntingdon County.  Both occurred with the same storm that pushed through on Friday afternoon, May 27th.  The storm spawned a tornado near Trough Creek in Huntingdon County around 5:10pm and then another tornado from the same storm touched down near Calvin around 5:30pm.

The storm tracked very close to Raystown Lake, and there was even a rare waterspout reported over the lake.  The type of waterspout that formed there is essentially a tornado over water that forms from a severe thunderstorm.  There is another type of waterspout that forms in fair weather, especially in more tropical places like South Florida.  If you are interested in reading more about waterspouts, the National Weather Service out of Miami has a great page on them:  http://www.srh.noaa.gov/mfl/?n=waterspouts

Waterspouts are extremely rare around here because we don't have many bodies of water, although they do occur occasionally across the Great Lakes.  Aside from the waterspouts that form along Lake Erie in northwestern PA, they are extremely rare in Pennsylvania.

Here are the reports from the tornadoes and a small write-up on the waterspout.

--Meteorologist Brian Thompson 
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...TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR TROUGH CREEK IN HUNTINGDON COUNTY
PENNSYLVANIA...

LOCATION...TROUGH CREEK IN HUNTINGDON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA
DATE...5/27/11
ESTIMATED TIME...510 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...100 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...300 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...3 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...TBD
ENDING LAT/LON...TBD
* 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 A
TORNADO NEAR TROUGH CREEK IN HUNTINGDON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ON
5/27/11.

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED A TORNADO FROM
THE STORMS OF MAY 27 ALONG LITTLE VALLEY ROAD NEAR THE TROUGH
CREEK WILD AREA OF HUNTINGDON COUNTY. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 1
MILE NORTH OF MIDDLETOWN JUST WEST OF LITTLE VALLEY ROAD... AND
TRACKED EAST NORTHEAST FOR ABOUT 3 MILES TO A FINAL LOCATION
AROUND 4 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF MIDDLETOWN...ALSO TO THE WEST OF
LITTLE VALLEY ROAD.

DAMAGE WAS LIMITED MAINLY TO TREES...WHILE A FEW CABINS SUSTAINED
MINOR DAMAGE TO DECKS DUE TO FALLEN TREES. MAXIMUM ESTIMATED WINDS
OF 95 TO 100 MPH RATE THIS AN EF1 TORNADO ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA
SCALE.

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...TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR CALVIN IN HUNTINGDON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA...

LOCATION...CALVIN IN HUNTINGDON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA
DATE...5/27/11
ESTIMATED TIME...530 PM EDT
MAXIMUM EF- SCALE RATING...EF1
ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...95 MPH
MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...100 YARDS
PATH LENGTH...2 MILES
BEGINNING LAT/LON...TBD
ENDING LAT/LON...TBD
* 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 A
TORNADO NEAR CALVIN IN HUNTINGDON COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA ON 5/27/11.

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED A TORNADO NEAR
CALVIN IN HUNTINGDON COUNTY FROM A STORM ON FRIDAY EVENING...MAY 27.
THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ONE MILE SOUTH OF CALVIN AROUND 530 PM EDT...
AND TRACKED NNE APPROXIMATELY 2 MILES BEFORE LIFTING ONE MILE
NORTH OF CALVIN. THE TORNADO DAMAGE PATH RAN PARALLEL TO STATE
ROUTE 829...AND CONSISTED MOSTLY OF TREE DAMAGE. 50 TREES WERE
EITHER SNAPPED OR UPROOTED...AND THERE WAS MINOR DAMAGE TO THE DECK
OF ONE HOUSE.

----------------------------------------------------------------

...WATERSPOUT ON RAYSTOWN LAKE...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS CONFIRMED THAT A
WATERSPOUT OCCURRED ON RAYSTOWN LAKE AROUND 530 PM FRIDAY MAY 27TH.
WITNESSES SAY THE WATERSPOUT FORMED ON THE LAKE NEAR SEVEN POINTS
MARINA. THE WATERSPOUT DISSIPATED IMMEDIATELY AS IT CAME
ONSHORE...KNOCKING DOWN ONE TREE ONTO A CAMPER VEHICLE. THERE WERE
NO INJURIES.

NOAA Issues 2011 Hurricane Forecast

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) put out their seasonal outlook for tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin.  They are forecasting an above-average season, which lasts from June 1st through November 30th.  The forecast is for:

• 12 to 18 named storms (normal is 11)
• 6 to 10 hurricanes (normal is 6)
• 3 to 6 major hurricanes (normal is 2)

* A major hurricane is a Category 3 or higher storm, meaning winds are greater than 111 MPH.

This may come as a surprise, but we are coming off of a very active hurricane season last year.  Here are the specifics from last year:

• 19 named storms
• 11 hurricanes
• 5 major hurricanes (Danielle, Earl, Igor, Julia and Karl)

The reason that it seemed like a quiet hurricane season is that the United States fared quite well given how many storms there were.  Despite there being 11 hurricanes and 5 major hurricanes, none of them made landfall along the United States, although a couple of those 11 hurricanes did bring some high surf to parts of the U.S. coastline.  Only two tropical storms made landfall along the U.S. coast during the 2010 season.

Other areas were not as lucky, as parts of the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America saw a number of tropical storms and hurricanes make landfall.  Hurricane Karl was the most destructive tropical cyclone to impact the state of Veracruz in Mexico, causing over $5 billion in damage.  Hurricane Alex and Tropical Storm Matthew both caused over a billion dollars in damage across parts of Mexico and Central America.

Hurricane Igor also made headlines in September as it came close to making a direct hit on Bermuda.  Despite many fears, damage on the island was much less than expected.  The storm then raced northeastward and lost its tropical characteristics, but still packed a punch as some called it the worst to ever hit the Canadian province of Newfoundland, causing $200 million in damage.  Flooding from the storm even washed out a portion of the Trans-Canada Highway.

--Meteorologist Brian Thompson

NOAA National April Recap

NOAA: Weather, climate extremes punctuate warm, very wet April in U.S.

April U.S. temperature ranked 39th warmest, precipitation ranked 10th wettest

Historic flooding, a record-breaking tornado outbreak and devastating wildfire activity made April 2011 a month of historic climate extremes across much of the United States, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, N.C.

The average U.S. temperature in April was 52.9 degrees F, which is 0.9 degrees F above the long-term (1901-2000) average. April precipitation was 0.7 inches above the long-term average, the 10th wettest April on record. This monthly analysis, based on records dating back to 1895, is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides.

U.S. Climate Highlights – April

· Fueled by record-setting precipitation totals, historic and near-historic flooding occurred throughout the Midwest and Ohio Valley, from the smallest streams to the largest rivers. The Ohio Valley region had its wettest April on record and it was the second wettest for the Northeast. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Pennsylvania each had their wettest April since 1895. An average of 11.88 inches of precipitation fell across Kentucky, nearly three times its long-term average, breaking the previous record (7.61 inches in 1972) by more than four inches.

· Nationally, the overall drought footprint across the contiguous U.S. remained above average, but decreased slightly from the beginning of the month to approximately 22 percent. The area of the country affected by the two most intense drought categories (D3, Extreme and D4, Exceptional) has increased for 10 consecutive weeks. Much of this very intense drought is focused in the Southern Plains and Southern Rockies.

· In Texas, drought intensified making it the fifth driest April on record. The U.S. Drought Monitor classified 94 percent of the state as “Severe” (the D2 category) to “Exceptional” (D4, the most intense designation) drought.

· Prime wildfire conditions prevailed across portions of the Southern Plains and a record breaking 1.79 million acres burned across the country in April. Texas, where over 2.2 million acres have burned since January, again bore the brunt of the wildfire activity.

· Several violent tornado outbreaks impacted the country during April. According to data from NOAA's Storm Prediction Center, the number of confirmed tornadoes for the month may approach the previous all time monthly record of 542 tornadoes which struck the U.S. in May 2003.

· Much of the southern and eastern U.S. experienced above-normal warmth in April. Based on preliminary data, Delaware had its warmest such month on record. It was the fourth warmest April for Virginia and the fifth warmest for Texas. Other states with much above normal warmth include: Florida and Louisiana (seventh warmest), New Mexico and West Virginia (eighth), New Jersey (ninth) and Maryland (10th).

· The Northwest was much cooler than normal during April. Washington State (second coolest, five degrees F below their long-term average), Oregon (fifth coolest) and Idaho (10th coolest) were all much cooler than normal.

U.S. Climate Highlights

February – April

· The Northeast and Ohio Valley regions had its wettest February-April period on record. Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania set precipitation records. Other states with much-above-average precipitation for the period were: West Virginia (second wettest), Illinois and Vermont (third), Michigan (fifth), Missouri (sixth), and Washington (ninth).

· Exceptionally dry conditions have parched the soil and vegetation in Texas, which has recorded precipitation of just 1.68 inches on average across the state since Feb. 1. This is the driest February-April period on record for Texas, nearly an inch less than the previous record (2.56 inches, February-April 1996). Also much drier than normal were New Mexico (seventh driest) and Louisiana (eighth driest).

· Temperatures during the February-April period, when averaged across the nation, were near the 20th century average. However, the Northwest was cooler than normal, while the South and East coasts were above- to much-above normal.

· According to NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center, La Niña conditions continued through April 2011 and are expected to transition to neutral conditions by early summer. The February-April U.S. temperature and precipitation patterns were largely consistent with those commonly associated with an early spring La Niña episode.

Previous 12 months

· The rolling 12-month (May 2010-April 2011) period shows record wetness for Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin which has contributed to flooding along rivers and streams in that region. The Great Lakes region had its wettest such period and it was much above normal in the Northeast, Central, Upper Great Plains, Northern Rockies and Northwest.

· Above average warmth has occupied much of the nation during the 12-month period. Only the Northwest has experienced average temperatures that were below the 20th century average.

Year-to-Date Period

· The year-to-date January-April period average precipitation has been above- to much-above normal across the northern tier of the country. Record precipitation averages in New York and Pennsylvania contrasted with the third driest such periods in Texas and New Mexico.