Tornadoes confirmed in Washington, Fayette counties from weekend storms
The National Weather Service has confirmed a tornado touched down shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday near Finleyville in Washington County.
NWS confirmed the Finleyville tornado as an EF2, meaning it had winds between 111 to 135 mph.
A church in adjacent Union Township was damaged while services were in progress, and a related storm rained hail on some areas to the east, in Westmoreland and Fayette counties.
Peak wind of the tornado was estimated at 118 mph, and its path length was 5.9 miles, according to NWS. The agency reported two injuries it classified as minor.
The last EF2 or greater tornado to impact Washington County was August 1, 2022, according to NWS. Before that, an EF2 impacted Washington County in October 2021.
More information on the tornado will be released Monday, NWS said.
The storm blew the roof off the Crossroads Ministries church on Walter Long Road, TribLive news partner WTAE reported.
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Moments ago, around 7:12 PM, the National Weather Service in Pennsylvania issued a radar-indicated tornado warning for… pic.twitter.com/aZ6aEQWu7u
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) May 12, 2024
A church member told the station the congregation was singing a hymn when the lights flickered and windows blew out.
“We had about 100 people in church for our service singing praise to God when it hit,” according to information posted about three hours after the tornado on the church Facebook page. “We evacuated everyone to the basement and no one was injured.”
The damage caused church officials to switch from planned in-person worship services to a single online streaming version Sunday morning.
Washington County officials told WTAE some homes in the path of the tornado received worse damage than occurred at the church.
Matt Brudy, a meteorologist with the Pittsburgh office of the National Weather Service, said Saturday evening’s stormy weather also affected locations farther south and east, including the Pennsylvania Turnpike corridor, New Stanton and Mt. Pleasant.
“We had hail up to golf ball-size reported,” he said.
NWS surveys from Sunday identified a brief EF0 tornado near New Salem in Fayette County, and an EF1 tornado crossing from Fayette County into Preston County, W.Va. near Fike Run.
We have preliminarily confirmed the Finleyville tornado in Washington County as an EF2. In addition, today's surveys identified a brief EF0 tornado near New Salem in Fayette County and an EF1 tornado crossing from Fayette County, PA into Preston County, WV near Fike Run. pic.twitter.com/4fEqY4kcUr
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) May 12, 2024
Estimated peak wind of the New Salem event was 65 mph, according to NWS. It was the first tornado in Fayette County since July 29, 2021.
The Fike Run tornado reached speeds of 90 mph, according to NWS, and was classified as an EF1 tornado. For Preston County, it’s the second tornado in three days.
“The system that whipped up yesterday’s severe weather is departing and so are the clouds today,” WTAE meteorologist Jill Szwed said Sunday morning. “Western Pennsylvania catches a break from rain until Tuesday. Showers with a few storms are likely through Wednesday.”
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
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