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.
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...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.
We were there, on Raystown Lake, at Point Camp when the waterspout hit. The tree fell on a friend's camper with them inside! Very scary but everyone is o.k. Many people in the campground lost the awning off their camper or their e-z-ups. Twisted them like toys. The waterspout came up the lake with a direct hit on the Point, and dissipated at the playground in the middle of the camp. We saw a wall of water and the owner of the damaged camper saw the rotation. I don't ever want to experience something like that again.
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