May 31, 1985 (Erie, Sharon, Media: houses, tornadoes, living)

[dugdogmaster]

Originally Posted by CortlandGirl79

Back in 1985 i was 6 years old

Even being so young I remember that day vividly, too.

[Renaldo5000]

I was five years old at the time and remember it vividly. I recall hiding in the basement in our farmhouse in Venango County. One of the tornados jumped over our house. The forests of Cooperstown (about ten minutes away) were absolutely devastated. It was like a Biblical event had happened.

[jimmyev]

Is that the tornado outbreak that took out the Jamesway on PA 18 in Beaver County?

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by jimmyev

Is that the tornado outbreak that took out the Jamesway on PA 18 in Beaver County?

Probably. Beaver Falls took a direct hit.

[Stormcsr]

Originally Posted by jimmyev

Is that the tornado outbreak that took out the Jamesway on PA 18 in Beaver County?

Yes it is. My uncle was driving by there when the tornado came through, and he was very fortunate that he wasn't badly hurt or worse. The city of Beaver Falls itself was spared, as this F3 tornado passed just to the north in Big Beaver and then crossed the Beaver River into North Sewickley, passing less than a mile away from my neighborhood. I'm writing this on the twenty-seventh anniversary.

[Craziaskowboi]

It was 27 years ago today that I officially became a weather geek. A couple of interesting facts about this tornado outbreak:

1. The F5 tornado that passed through Trumbull County, OH and Mercer County, PA is the first tornado known to have high-quality home video footage. Credit goes to somebody in Newton Falls, OH who filmed it approaching a local park. The tornado was only an F3 at the time, though, so it wasn't until later that somebody in Hermitage, PA became the first person to film a tornado of F5 intensity on high-quality home video. This was the most powerful tornado in the United States in 1985, being the only F5 reported that year.

2. The F4 tornado that passed through the Moshannon and Sproul State Forests created the first known "debris ball" to be observed on radar. At times, the track width was over two miles wide, giving it one of the widest tracks of any tornado in United States meteorological history. It was so powerful that it even set of seismometers a few miles away. Amazingly, in spite of a 69-mile-long track, there were no fatalities because it never passed through any populated areas.

[bradjl2009]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

It was 27 years ago today that I officially became a weather geek. A couple of interesting facts about this tornado outbreak:

1. The F5 tornado that passed through Trumbull County, OH and Mercer County, PA is the first tornado known to have high-quality home video footage. Credit goes to somebody in
Newton Falls, OH who filmed it approaching a local park. The tornado was only an F3 at the time, though, so it wasn't until later that somebody in
Hermitage, PA became the first person to film a tornado of F5 intensity on high-quality home video. This was the most powerful tornado in the United States in 1985, being the only F5 reported that year.

2. The F4 tornado that passed through the Moshannon and Sproul State Forests created the first known "debris ball" to be observed on radar. At times, the track width was over two miles wide, giving it one of the widest tracks of any tornado in United States meteorological history. It was so powerful that it even set of seismometers a few miles away. Amazingly, in spite of a 69-mile-long track, there were no fatalities because it never passed through any populated areas.

Today is also 10 years since these severe storms destroyed Kennywood park and blew down a lot of trees in Lawrenceville at the Allegheny Cemetery.

[CortlandGirl79]

Here's a new video:


Niles - Wheatland F5 Tornado 5-31-1985 - YouTube

Even though I was only six years old at the time it's something I will never forget. It didn't actually hit my town, but Niles and Newton Falls are a short distance away. To this day I'm still scared to death of the tornado siren.

[Craziaskowboi]

May 31 overall is just a bad day for weather in western Pennsylvania. In 1889 was the Johnstown Flood. In 1985 was the Pennsylvania-Ohio tornado outbreak, a.k.a. the U.S.-Canada tornado outbreak. (There were deadly tornadoes in Ontario that day as well, up to F4 in intensity.) In 2002 was the microburst at Kennywood Park.

[wpipkins]

Originally Posted by bradjl2009

It's also been 8 years since the micro-bursts of 2002 that destroyed the Whip roof at Kennywood and knocked down a lot of trees in the Allegheny Cemetery and other places in Lawrenceville. And June 1st or 2nd is also 12 years since the Mt. Washington tornado. Is it me or is there a trend with severe weather around this date?

That storm killed one of my employees. She was a beautiful person and loved kennywood. uo